


White Out

by RogersBz14



Category: Call of Duty, Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare - Fandom
Genre: Cuddling & Snuggling, Dogs, Friendship, Gen, Hypothermia, Military, hurt/badass/caring! Mitchell, kind of, worried/concerned/caring! Gideon
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-02-26
Updated: 2015-03-07
Packaged: 2018-03-15 07:30:10
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 8
Words: 22,973
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3438770
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/RogersBz14/pseuds/RogersBz14
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A mission takes a HUGE turn for the worse, forcing Mitchell to survive in the snow-covered woods of Alaska!</p>
<p>Meanwhile, Gideon questions the definition of being a true leader</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter One

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Gideon and a Siberian Husky relax in an igloo in freezing cold Alaska
> 
> Gideon remembers the mission and eventually gets an unexpected visitor

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey y'all :0)
> 
> So..this is probably the last original idea for the Advanced Warfare fandom I'll ever have for a while :/ I was sitting outside in the woods a couple of days ago and this idea suddenly came up :0)  
> I'm sorry if this story sucks :( Compared to the first one I wrote, I feel like everything else is crap (I also think my first story wasn't that great).
> 
> Warning: Grammatical/Spelling errors and possibly slight OOC-ness
> 
> I hope you enjoy!!!

**(December 22, 2065. 10:00 hours)**  
In the middle of a frozen wonderland, Alaska to be more exact, former Atlas Captain Gideon sat in an abandoned igloo, with a Siberian Husky. While the soldier was wrapped in dozens of layers of long sleeve shirts, sweaters, a topped with a thick white jacket, the dog simply laid on his stomach as if the -55˚F temperature were nothing. Gideon glanced at the dog with envy, jealousy, and playful anger.  
“Bastard” he muttered, as he wrapped the jacket around himself tighter.  
Bandit, the husky’s name, must have felt the human’s coldness, so he got up from where he was lying originally and trotted over to lie on Gideon’s thighs, providing the freezing Captain some warmth. Gideon, surprised by the dog’s kind actions, reached one of his glove-covered hands out of his pockets and began to gently scratch one of the dog’s ears. His hand then moved from the dog’s ears and re-located to the entire dog’s body, rubbing the smooth fur in order to provide the poor animal some extra warmth. As he sighed, he could see his breath leave his mouth, cloud up, and float right above him. It was only ten seconds later when the puff of air finally disappeared from his sight. Gideon reached for his sleeping bag, that was currently lying on top of a spare cot he managed to fit in the igloo, and slowly slid his feet into the debatably warm cocoon. Bandit got up from where he was laying on Gideon’s thighs and let the human try to give himself even more warmth. Once Gideon was situated in the sleeping bag, he spread his legs apart and patted the open area so Bandit had a more comfy place to lay down on. Bandit’s tale began to wag with happiness and he quickly trotted over and laid down in the gap between Gideon’s legs, placing his furry head on one of Gideon’s calves. Gideon smiled and leaned back against the wall of the igloo, now using the opportunity to reflect on the past couple of days.

_**Flashback (3 Days Ago)** _

**(December 19, 2065 10:00 hours)**  
Sentinel forces received intel that missiles capable of mass destruction were being developed somewhere in Alaska. What surprised Gideon was how little the United States government decided to act upon this discovery. In the past, the United States government rarely permitted these kinds of weapons to be developed on American soil, but it seems that as the years went by, and the world became more bleak and dangerous, that more and more exceptions were made. The President claimed that the government would immediately investigate the situation, but three months later, they still hadn’t acted. Considering that America was, once again, at war with terrorists in other countries, it wasn’t a complete shock that the United States not only chose a very secluded, and dangerous, place to build and hide the weapons, but also a place where no living life form would want to go find them. Originally, Sentinel forces worked WITH the United States government to stop private corporations, like Atlas, or foreign terrorists. This mission was an exception. The world has already experienced too much damage and destruction, and there have been too many casualties because of war. Sentinel commander’s needed to hack and destroy the weapons before anything escalated into something global. Private Jack Mitchell, Gideon’s long-term partner, friend, and brother, as well as other Sentinel troops, including Gideon himself, were air-dropped a huge distance away from Anchorage, Alaska. Their journey to the missiles was long and would’ve taken them an entire day. Thankfully, however, everyone wanted to escape the cold weather as quickly as they could, so their journey was much faster than originally planned.  
The mission was to hijack and dismantle the missiles before they could be launched. These weapons were only one of the hundreds located all around the American states; America wouldn’t lose sleep if these ones failed to launch. The main difficulty was that the missiles were placed on top of a frozen waterfall that, although was pretty solid, wasn’t completely frozen yet. Alpha One, also known as Commander Chip Kelly, didn’t want to put the entire squad on the ice, so he selected only three members.  
“Alright gentlemen,” Kelly yelled, trying to make his voice known over the howling wind, “I don’t want to risk all of you to step on the ice. Harry Schultz, Daniel Parker, and Jack Mitchell: you three will walk on the ice and disarm the weapons.”  
Gideon and Mitchell looked at each other with extreme concern and worry; they both knew that this could go South at any moment and didn’t like the plan at all. Kelly continued.  
“The rest of you will support them with these climbing ropes.” He lifted up three roles of thick ropes that would hook onto the harnesses. “If they fall through, you will pull them out. Copy?”  
Despite his internal protests, Gideon, as well as the rest of the team, replied, “Yes sir!”  
“Suit up. We roll out in five minutes.”

Gideon and Mitchell grabbed the supplies they needed and separated themselves from the group. While Mitchell was putting his harness on,  Gideon began to untangle the rope.  
“I don’t like the sound of this plan” Mitchell said.  
“Me either,” Gideon replied as he tied the rope to the clip, “but those are our orders. Just move slowly and don’t put too much weight in one spot for a long period of time.”  
Mitchell nodded, although he was still extremely reluctant to move forward with the plan. Once he was suited up, Gideon clipped the rope onto his harness and they stared at each other for a second.  
“Be careful, Mitchell” Gideon quietly requested.  
Mitchell smirked. “You have my back right?”  
“Yeah?”  
“Then I’ll be fine” Mitchell replied warmly, his voice betraying how he really felt. Gideon felt Mitchell pat his bicep and he couldn’t help but smile. In order to comfort the Private, as well as himself, Gideon nodded at the smiling Private and together, they made their way back towards the group. He hated this plan, but he didn’t have the authority to fight back...he just had to pray to God that nothing bad would happen to himself, the rest of the squad, and Mitchell.  
“Remember men,” Kelly shouted, his focus entirely on Mitchell, Parker, and Schultz, “move across the ice as slowly as you can. We just need to dismantle the missiles and then we’re out of here.”   
The three men nodded.  
“Move out!”

Gideon nodded at Mitchell, signaling him to more forward. He slowly fed Mitchell some rope as he made his way towards the center of the huge waterfall. His eyes never left his friend’s figure; he wanted to react automatically if something went south. However, Gideon had to move a little bit closer to the edge of the land in order to feed the rope in a more smoother way, so he had to look down and make sure he didn’t step on the ice completely. When Gideon looked down to see where he was standing, he noticed something shocking: despite the outer surface of the waterfall being frozen, he could see the strong currents still running beneath the waterfall.  
‘Jesus Christ’ Gideon thought. The waterfall, despite it’s thick frozen outer layer, wasn’t completely frozen. He was tempted to pull Mitchell back right at this revelation, but when he looked up, he saw that Mitchell and the rest of the crew already made it to the missiles. Taking a deep breath of uncertainty, Gideon forced himself to believe that everything would be fine. He started at the soldiers surrounding the missiles, each one of them dismantling individual ones. After a couple of seconds, Schultz waved his arm in the air, confirming that they dismantled the missiles. Gideon let out a breath he didn’t even notice he was holding and looked up at Mitchell, who shot a smile at him. Then, all of a sudden, all hell broke loose.

A gunshot rang out in the air and in a blink of an eye, Parker collapsed on the frozen ice, dead. The soldiers on the ice and on land automatically pulled out their weapons and began to fire in the direction the gunshot came from. A light snowfall began to cover where the soldiers on land were located, providing them with camouflage outside their already white uniforms.   
“GIDEON,” someone screamed, “LOOK OUT!”  
Gideon didn’t know who yelled at him, but it didn’t matter because he immediately saw an orange ball coming straight at him. He quickly rolled himself a couple of feet away from the orange ball and found himself lying next to another Sentinel soldier, who was taking cover as well. Gideon followed where the ball was heading and his heart froze.  
The ball crashed right on top of the ice, only two feet away from where Schultz and Mitchell were standing. Thankfully, both soldiers managed to grab a hold of the missiles so that they wouldn’t go flying yards away because of the explosion. Once he saw the two soldiers regain their balance, he noticed something even more horrifying. The ice that Mitchell and Schultz were standing on began to crack dramatically; water could be seen slipping between the cracks. Gideon pulled the rope that was attached to Mitchell and saw Mitchell quickly crawl towards the land. Suddenly, all of the ice broke and the waterfall began to come alive again. The missiles behind the two soldiers suddenly vanished underneath the water and, by what Gideon could tell, were being carried away by the current, breaking the frozen ice that got in it’s way and awakening the entire waterfall. He was about to pull Mitchell closer to land when he looked up and saw Mitchell’s expression of defeat, assurance, and almost acceptance.  
“Mitchell” Gideon called out, “what are you doing?”  
His hands almost went numb when he saw Mitchell pull out a knife. Gideon automatically knew what his friend was planning; Mitchell was going to cut the rope so that Gideon wouldn’t be swept away by the current with him. The realization pushed Gideon to pull the rope even harder.  
“Come on Mitchell! I can pull you to land. You just have to work with me!”  
“Gideon,” Mitchell yelled back, his voice sturdy despite the unstable ice beneath him about to give way, “you’re not falling in the water wi-”  
“PLEASE MITCHELL!!!” Gideon didn’t care if he was begging: he wasn’t going to let Mitchell pull something this stupid off. He knew Mitchell too well and could see the confirmed look in his eyes. That motivated Gideon to pull even harder. However, it was at that moment when Gideon felt himself beginning to get dragged down towards the now alive current that flowed viciously. He looked up to Mitchell with pleading eyes.  
Mitchell looked at him one last time, silently telling him that ‘everything will be okay’, before he cut the rope, fell through the now completely broken ice, and was swept away over the edge of the waterfall along with Schultz.

“MITCHELL!!!!!” While Gideon screamed his friend’s name in horror and sadness, he tried to extend his hand in a vain attempt to grab his friend. He only grabbed air.

_**(End Flashback)** _

**(December 22, 2065. 10:15 hours)**  
Gideon snapped back into reality when he felt a strong chill coming from the entrance of the igloo.  
‘When did the entrance open?’ Looking back at his legs, he also noticed that Bandit had left the little bed he made and was nowhere in the igloo.  
‘Must’ve slipped out’ Gideon deducted.  
He stood up, reluctant to leave his slightly warmer “bed”, and began to make his way towards the entrance. As he approached the open door, the memories of Mitchell falling through the ice and being carried away by the waterfall haunted him, almost making him dizzy. He pushed the memory aside and stood in front of the door, ready to seal it. Suddenly Bandit came bursting through the entrance and began to bark loudly.  
“Easy boy,” Gideon calmly said, “let me just seal th-”  
He didn’t even finish his sentence when Bandit ran behind his legs and began to push him outwards towards the freezing cold air. Gideon stepped over the dog that was nudging him and kneeled to down to pet him.  
“Bandit, what’s the matter mate?”  
Bandit replied by gently biting Gideon’s jacket sleeve and began to tug him towards the opening. Gideon knew something must’ve happened outside. He pried Bandit’s teeth off of his jacket, quickly ran over to the cot, grabbed his BAL-27, and followed Bandit outside, who was running in circles, impatiently waiting for Gideon.

When Gideon stepped out into the snow, he was glad to see that the blizzard has now turned into a light snowfall. It was beautiful and almost magical...although Gideon would never admit it out loud. He focused his attention back to the dog, who was now running full speed away from him. Gideon was considering heading back in, however he noticed that Bandit stopped and looked at him, waiting for him to follow him. Sighed, Gideon began to follow the dog.  
“This better be good” Gideon mumbled to himself as he tried to catch up with the dog.  
After a couple of seconds of jogging in the deep snow, Gideon could see Bandit standing above something, his head facing downwards and tilting at the unmoving object. As Gideon began to run at a greater pace, he saw Bandit licking and nudging the object; the object remained motionless. When Gideon got closer, he realized that what Bandit was standing over wasn’t an object, but a person. When he finally reached the motionless figure, he saw Bandit continuing to lick, nudge, and now whine at the person in an attempt to rouse the motionless form. Gideon kneeled down next to the body and carefully rolled it so that it was facing upwards rather than on it’s side.

The first thing Gideon noticed was the chocolate brown hair that was frozen in place and covering the person’s eyes. He looked at the person’s chest and realized that the figure was a man. His lips were blue and his skin was completely white, a tiny hint of grey on his checks. He wasn’t shivering, which meant either hypothermia or worse. He leaned forward so that his ear was hovering right over the man’s nose: thankfully, he could hear very faint breaths coming out of the comatose figure.  
‘At least the poor sod’s alive’ Gideon thought.  
Gideon realized that the man wasn’t wearing a jacket or anything that would protect him from the harsh weather. He was only wearing a grey long sleeved t-shirt, white camouflage pants, and white combat boots...almost like what Sentinel forces wore the day of the incident. Gideon’s eyes found a clip that was placed tightly on the belt loop of the man’s pants and a short piece of thick rope was still tied around it: the rope looked like it was cut off with a knife. Then a feeling of complete fear washed over Gideon.   
‘Please don’t be him’ Gideon silently begged.  
To confront his theory, as well as biggest fear, he lifted his glove-covered hand to push the frozen chocolate hair away from the man’s eyes. After a couple of attempts, the hair finally parted and was gently pushed behind the man’s ears, revealing his eyes; Gideon felt himself go completely numb with horror and despair.

“Mitchell….” 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I think I know why I love hurt!Mitchell so much...because we get protective!Gideon :D I love reading/writing stories about main characters getting hurt because it makes their closest allies vulnerable and a side of them that the original show/film/game doesn't show is revealed.
> 
> Should I continue or die in a hole???
> 
> If you all have any questions/comments/concerns/insults/thoughts of love, please feel free to write them down :D
> 
> Take Care and Party Hard :0)


	2. Chapter 2 (Mitchell’s POV)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Mitchell struggles to survive in the freezing temperature. During his journey, he encounters a couple of friends and one ugly enemy he thought he buried forever.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey y'all :0)
> 
> Here is Chapter 2. This will take place through Mitchell's POV! It's LONG (but hopefully not too long) and there are a lot of time jumps I didn't want to spend too much time with forest descriptions, walking, and limping lol
> 
> Warning: Grammatical/Spelling errors and possibly slight OOC-ness
> 
> I hope you enjoy!!!

_**(Mitchell’s POV)** _

**(December 19, 2065 13:00 hours)  
** Mitchell slowly came to feeling light and numb...and not in a good way. His hearing sounded extremely muffled and everything above him was watery, smudged, and also sliding across his line of vision. Wanting to investigate what was happening, Mitchell slowly rolled himself onto his belly in order to push himself up. He taken by a huge shock when he rolled over and was instantly greeted with freezing cold water engulfing his face and arms, preventing him from getting a sturdy grip. Instinctively, he began to flail around in the water in an attempt to escape this frozen trap. Suddenly, before he could regain control of himself and calm down, he felt himself being tugged downwards under the freezing water. He tried to pull himself up but not only did his entire body began to burn at the attempt, but also the force that was pulling him downwards was relentless and strong. Mitchell breathed out and saw bubbles float above his head and towards the surface. He tried even harder to follow the directions of the bubbles, but his body, the unseen force, and a heavy weight on his upper chest prevented him from doing so. His vision began to go black when he felt a solid surface move beneath his feet. Immediately, he pushed himself away from the ground, catapulting him towards the surface.

As soon as he broke free from the water, Mitchell gasped and took in a huge gulp of air, his vision clearing up. He began to tread water rather than fight the current that was carrying him only God knows. He saw a thick chunk of ice float a couple of feet away from him, so he positioned himself so that he could swim in that direction and began to make his way towards the floating ice piece. Mitchell could swim: he’s been swimming since he was three and by the time he was seven, he had become an expert. So he couldn’t understand why he was currently having so much difficulty reaching the floaty. He quickly glanced down at his body as he slowly made his way and noticed that his heavy exo-suit, with all of the equipment attached, was still attached to his body: There were oxygen tanks, tubs, wires, and even a damn backpack with even more tools in it.  
‘That must be what’s weighing me down’ Mitchell deducted.   
Sighing, he turned his body so that it was now facing upwards and quickly began to strip himself of the suit. One by one, the pieces fell and eventually, Mitchell began to feel lighter. He still left his jacket on (obviously), as well as gloves, hat, and snow pants: all of these items made swimming a little bit more difficult for Mitchell, but at least they weren’t weighing him downwards. Satisfied that they last of the suit was stripped, Mitchell turned back onto his stomach and was about to swim towards the ice chunk when he realized that it was no longer next to him, but rather in front of him moving at an alarming pace. Before he could comprehend what was actually going on, he saw the ice chunk disappear from his view and sink downwards. Mitchell felt the current pick up even faster and before he could find anything else to grab onto, he felt himself free-falling in the air.

He didn’t know how long he was falling; maybe a couple of seconds, maybe a couple of hours. He didn’t know and he didn’t care. All he knew was that something was going to meet him at the bottom and he was afraid that it would be solid ground. Suddenly, he hit more ice-cold water and began to sink downwards. The impact from the fall stunned Mitchell, so he didn’t automatically push himself upwards towards the surface. Instead, he let the now super strong current take him away. After regaining his sense, he swam upwards towards to surface. Mitchell took in as much as air his lungs would allow before he began to swim along with the current in order to find something to grab onto. He’s learned to never swim against the current: not only would he be wasting the little energy he had left, but also something dangerous could come at him at full speed and impale him with an even greater force. Looking around, he saw another chunk of ice that was only a couple of feet in front of him, so he quickly swam towards the floaty. As soon as his fingers touched the cold ice, he was unexpectedly throw left and hit a brown rock with a lot of force. Before he could recover from the blow, he was jerked to the right and hit another rock. While he hit the second one, he tried to reach out and grab onto it, but his hands were too slippery so the rock just slide right past him. He was sucked underneath the water and then tossed viciously against a rock that was hidden below the surface. Despite the numbness the cold was providing him, the pain of the rocks hitting him really hurt: every hit caused Mitchell to grunt in pain, forcing air out of his already oxygen-deprived lungs. The current picked up at an even greater pace and before he could see it, a large brown object came flying in his direction underwater. He tried to push himself upwards but he felt a sharp pain hit him on the left side of his head and everything instantly went black.

 **(December 19, 2065 14:00 hours)**  
Mitchell jolted awake facing upwards, and then sideways, and began coughing up the water that had entered his lungs. He could feel a solid surface underneath where his body laid and also felt a pair of light hands on his chest. Regaining his breath and remaining strength, Mitchell slowly looked upwards and saw Schultz alive, pale, and...bleeding? As soon as Mitchell saw the blood, he instinctively pushed himself into a sitting position to inspect the damage. His vision went grey and he almost passed out when he felt a shaky hand steady him. Mitchell forcefully shook the greyness away and looked at Schultz’s wound. Mitchell couldn’t talk: the pain, shock, and freezing cold air prevented him from doing so. He decided to simply point at the soldier’s wound, his hands jittery and shaking.  
“I-I It-t-t-t’s-s-s n-no-no-th-th-th-ing” Schultz managed to say. his entire body shaking.  
Ignoring his remark, Mitchell began to reach down towards his snow pants, intending to peal off some strips in order to stop the bleeding. As he was doing so, he noticed that his entire body, with the exception of his head, was still in the freezing water. To the best of his ability, he pushed himself completely out of the water, ignoring the snow on the surface  that wrapped around his fingers. Once he was completely out of the water, he quickly removed his snow pants, took out his knife that hanging loosely from his knife holder, and began to slowly cut strips of cloth in order to stop the wound from bleeding. His hands were shaking badly and he didn’t want to cut himself by accident, so he slowed his pace down even further.

Almost half an hour later, Mitchell finished cutting the pieces of cloth, as well as wrapping Schultz’s wound. Satisfied that the younger man wasn’t going to bleed to death, Mitchell lifted up his shaky left and and tried to communicate with Sentinel forces. He was greeted by his left arm being busted, usable, but busted: all of the communicators and tools that were originally attached were now smashed and destroyed. Mitchell felt a sob reaching his mouth but he halted it by swallowing hard. He looked at Schultz sadly and noticed that the soldier was swaying dangerously on his knees. Ignoring his own wounds and coldness, Mitchell pushed himself onto his feet, swaying a couple of seconds, and grabbed Schultz arm that wasn’t covering the wound. He lifted the arm and moved it across his shoulders and made it so that it would loop around his neck. He pulled Schultz into a standing position and nodded to him. They both knew they had to find someplace a little warmer than this before it got freezing cold during the night. There was only so little sunlight for the rest of the day and they didn’t want to waste any more time. Both men (to the best of their ability) quickly made their way away from the frozen waterfall and began to head into the forest.   
“Stay with me, Schultz” Mitchell whispered as they walked away.  
Mitchell never noticed the pool of blood that he himself left behind.

Their entire walk was a blur to Mitchell: all he saw was snow, trees, Schultz limping next to him, and blurry pieces of details like the different animals that ran past them. Mitchell’s entire body was numb, so it was like he was moving on autopilot; incapable of stopping or resting. Six hours later, around 20:00, it was they found a small underground cave to rest in for the night. Because the endless sea of trees, the moonlight or the stars could not be seen, making the entire forest pitch black. They happened to come across the cave by accident, when Schultz suddenly went limp from Mitchell’s now weak hold and rolled into the small cave. Exhausted but alarmed, Mitchell slowly followed where Schultz fell and sighed with relief to see that he fell in an unoccupied and somewhat big cave. Mitchell crawled on all fours, his legs now too weak to support his full weight, towards Schultz, who was unresponsive. Mitchell reached his arm over and shook the younger man’s shoulders in an attempt to wake him up: the man was unresponsive. He was about to try again when his eyes rolled back into his head, his arms and legs gave out, and he passed out onto his side, exhaustion and pain finally catching up.

 **(December 20, 2065 11:00 hours)**  
Mitchell’s entire body felt like it was on fire, which was odd because the weather outside was the complete opposite. He woke up to see a light snowfall taking place outside, slowly piling up and blocking the entrance. His head and body throbbed with pain and he saw a small (and now frozen) pool of blood lying right where his head was resting. The only thing he could remember was the mission, missiles, ice breaking, Gideon screaming his name as he fell, getting tossed into hundreds of rocks, and a little bit of the walk towards their current location. Mitchell groaned and was about to check on Schultz, only to begin violently coughing. Unlike his normal coughing, it sounded wet and he could feel something travel up his throat. He continued to cough violently, unaware of the mucus and tiny flecks of blood that splattered onto his glove-covered hand. When he recovered, he looked down and noticed that his jacket was still wet, but there were also huge layers of ice that began to make its way through the fabric.  
‘Great,’ he thought, ‘I passed out wearing a wet jacket in the freezing cold...surprised I’m still alive.”  
He knew that keeping on the wet jacket would do him more harm than good, so he began to gingerly peal off the now almost solid jacket. His ribs and head began to throb and pain erupted from them, but he pushed forward. He knew he already caught something, he just didn’t want to make it any worse. Once the jacket was completely off, he began to shiver violently, realizing that he was now only wearing a sweater and a long-sleeved shirt. He could feel the dampness in both of them, but he was too exhausted to remove them from his body.  
‘At least they aren’t as wet as the jacket’ Mitchell silently noted.  
He crawled over to Schultz and positioned himself so that he could see the soldier’s face without actually moving him. He bent down and noticed that the soldier was still unconscious and that scared him. He noticed how little he was shivering, which confirmed Mitchell’s fears.  
‘Hypothermia’ he thought.  
Deciding that his own warmth could wait, he sat back onto his knees and quickly peeled his sweater off. He ignored the protest his ribs were sending him and proceeded to cover to soldier with his sweater: he was too weak to move the soldier’s arms so that it would perfectly fit the soldier. After covering the injured soldier, he stood on his shaky legs and began to make his way towards the entrance of the cave.

To his extreme disappointment, the snowfall that took place while they were passed out covered their tracks completely, preventing anyone who may be looking for them from actually finding them. He ran his hand through his basically frozen hair in frustration and worry. He heard a weak moan coming back from the cave.

He entered the cave and saw Schultz awake, but barely coherent. His grip on Mitchell’s sweater was extremely tight and it didn’t look like Mitchell would be getting it back for a very long time. He kneeled down to meet Schultz eyes, which were at half-mast. Mitchell put his hand gently on the injured soldier’s shoulder.  
“E-e-ev-v-v-er-r-ry-th-th-th-i-i-i-ng i-is f-f-f-i-i-n-ne” Mitchell stuttered.  
“You n-n-n-e-e-e-e-d-d t-to f-f-f-ind h-help” Schultz automatically replied.  
Mitchell shook his head, unable to speak anymore because of the cold. Schultz raised his gloved-hand weakly and placed it on the arm Mitchell’s hand was attached to that was on his shoulder.  
“Please” Schultz whispered.  
There was no way Mitchell was going to leave Schultz to die out in the winter. He would try to get him to safety to the best of his ability. With new determination, Mitchell stood up, tossing Schultz over his shoulder, and began to walk towards the snowfall.  
“No” Mitchell whispered back, his voice more steady and smooth than before.  
He made his way out of the cave, Schultz wrapped in the sweater he gave him and tossed over his shoulder, and began to make his way to find help.

 **(December 20, 2065 18:00 hours)  
** For nine hours straight, Mitchell made his way through the snow-covered forest. At first, he was on fire and covered a great distance within the first five hours. However, as the temperature got colder and his legs began to burn, Mitchell felt his body begin to shut down and grow weaker. At one point during his journey, he must have passed out because one moment he was carrying Schultz and then the next, he was lying on his stomach in the snow, Schultz right on top of him. Still, he pushed forward and didn’t waste another moment after he passed out. What made the journey even more complicated was that Mitchell began to feel extremely ill: his mind became foggy, his vision went in and out of focus, and his body kept switching from feeling too hot and feeling too cold. He coughed loudly, wetly, and non-stop towards the end of his journey.

Around 18:00, his body couldn’t take anymore walking. Mitchell found a tree and gently lowered Schultz down so that he would be leaning against the tree. As soon as the weight was off of him, he moved forward to see if the soldier was awake. He couldn’t hear (or see) and breaths coming out of his parted mouth. Fear shook Mitchell to his core, so he began to shake the soldier to try to revive him.  
“S-Sch-ul-l-l-t-t-z?”  
Nothing. In one last check, Mitchell pressed his head right over where Schultz’s heart should be beating...there was nothing: no thump, no breaths, no life. Mitchell sat on the hinds of his legs and began to silently cry, warm tears making their way down his face. It was a shame: the first feeling of warmth he felt in days and it came from his pain rather than happiness.  
He didn’t know how much time passed when he finally got a hold of himself. Looking up from where his head was resting on his knees, he saw the clip that was attached to the rope Gideon held him by still on his belt loop. He closed his eyes at the memory and nodded: he needed to get out of the cold now. He looked at Schultz’s body one more time before reaching into the soldier’s pockets and grabbing his dog-tags. There was no way he was going to be forgotten. He patted the dead man’s neck before he stood up and slowly walked away from the body, the snow already created a small casket around the carcass.

Mitchell walked and walked in the now dark forest, hope and happiness completely gone: he thought he could save the younger soldier but ended up failing him. What was he going to tell Kelly? How Schultz family react? He was so lost in his thoughts that he didn’t see a small ditch that was right in front of him. His world suddenly disappeared when he felt himself falling down the pit. He didn’t care if he died from impact or from the cold...he failed and he would never be able to live with the guilt. He was surprised when he landed on a soft patch of, you guessed it, snow that was pilled up. He tried to push himself upwards so that he could climb out of the hole, but his body chose that moment to shut down. He fell asleep within a second.

 **(December 21, 2065 13:00 hours)**  
“Mitchell?” A voice that sounded extremely distant woke Mitchell from his deep sleep. He raised his head from where it laid and looked around. He couldn’t see anyone, so why the hell was he hearing voices?  
“Mitchell!” That sounded like...Will.  
He shot himself into a sitting position and stood up, surprised by how light his body felt. He got up from the ditch and saw Will in the uniform he wore the day he died. Mitchell was about to turn his head away when Will’s form suddenly ran away, shocking Mitchell.  
“Will?!”  
"Come on," Will called back, "you don't have all day."  
Will kept running and Mitchell didn’t want to be alone in the woods, so he followed after him. He was surprised by how easy it was to run and by how much progress he was making. He didn’t realize how much ground he covered until he suddenly collapsed face-first back onto the snow. Will was standing over him with a look of happiness slapped on his face. Will shot a warm and almost heartbreaking smile at the (dying) soldier on the snowy ground.  
“Everything will be okay, Mitchell.” He faded from Mitchell’s sight, almost breaking Mitchell on the spot.  
“Will? WILL!!!” Despite his weakened state, he managed to scream his friends name. His voice echoed throughout the entire forest and was soon followed by unbearably silence.  
Mitchell was about to push the tears that pricked his eyes when he went into a VERY violent coughing fit, blood now dripping on the white snow. No matter how hard he tried to suppress the coughs (as well as tears), they continued to attack him, making his throat scream with pain. He coughed himself into oblivion that night, the drips of blood growing into blotches, which then grew into a small puddle.

 **(December 22, 2065 5:00 hours)**  
Mitchell weakly moaned and lifted his head from where it was buried in the snow. He slowly looked over his shoulder and saw that his entire body was buried by a good amount of snow. He couldn’t feel the coldness from the snow, wind, or temperature.  
‘Not good’ he weakly thought.  
His legs refused to cooperate with him, so he used his arms to drag his body away from he was laying. His arms shook with exhaustion, but he couldn’t stop now. Not after everything. He needed to find help and give them Schultz’s dog-tags. He didn’t want Schultz to have died in vain and then be forgotten about one day later. He kept crawling.  
An hour later (although he wasn’t keeping track of time), Mitchell couldn’t take it anymore and his arms fell limply in front of him, his head resting on top of them.  
‘This wasn’t how I wanted to die’ Mitchell complained. ‘I was hoping it would be more heroic and meaningful.’  
His thoughts were interrupted by the sound of an older man whispering directly in his ear.  
“You’re nothing like Will.” Irons.

He weakly looked up and saw Jonathan Irons staring down at him with cold and lifeless eyes. He was holding a handgun and began to stride towards another figure that he couldn’t make out. Mitchell felt anger consume him: the memories and pain that man caused him, Gideon, the rest of Sentinel, and America still fresh in his mind. His arms regained some strength, influencing him to push himself upwards to see the monster better.  
Irons turned around and smirked back at him with confidence and arrogance. He side-stepped and revealed Gideon who had cuffs wrapped tightly around his wrists. The cuffs were attached to a wire that led to nowhere. That woke Mitchell up completely.  
“Gideon?!”  
Before the older soldier could reply, the wire around his cuffs suddenly tightened and Gideon was dragged forward towards an unknown light.  
“NO!”  
Mitchell gathered as much strength as he could and began to run (or rather, stumble) after Gideon. He ignored the burning sensation his lungs, ribs, and head shot at him, and he couldn’t feel the dangerous temperature around him (which helped with his progress):He ran as if he were running a marathon. He would not lose Gideon! He’s lost almost everyone who he’s cared about and who cared about him back...he couldn’t lose one of the last few people he loved like family.

He didn’t realize how long he had been running (in reality, stumbling and limping) but he suddenly found that he couldn’t move his legs anymore, despite the adrenaline. He looked down and saw that his legs were trapped in frozen ice. Looking back up, he saw that he was now standing in an open area rather than condensed and endless forest; he could also see a small igloo a good amount of yards in front of him. His attention shifted to the sight of Gideon, wearing the same clothes he wore when they got captured by Atlas four years ago, kneeling in front of Irons. His wrists were still bound and the expression on his face was fear and despondency. Mitchell tried to walk towards him but the ice wrapped around his legs prevented him from doing so. Irons’s eyes swept over the handgun before he pointed it at the back of Gideon’s head.  
“No’ Mitchell whimpered.  
Irons gave Mitchell a deadly glare. “An eye for an eye.” Those were his last words before he pulled the trigger.  
Before Mitchell could see Gideon’s brains fly across the snowy field or see his body jerk forward to land ungracefully on the snow, both he and Irons vanished. Mitchell blinked in shock and confusion. He looked down and noticed that the ice shackles were now gone and that he could use his legs again.  
“Gideon?” His voice came out as a weak and almost silent whisper.  
He took one step forward before his legs gave out and he collapsed sideways onto the snow. He didn’t feel the impact of the fall, nor the coldness of the icy snow, nor his entire body. His eyes began to close on their own accordance and Mitchell couldn’t stop it. He felt a small wave of confusion and fear when grey fur suddenly appeared in his line of what little vision he had left. The furry creature stared down at him before it nudged the side of his head with what Mitchell guessed was it’s nose. He couldn’t feel the wet snout or breaths that would’ve usually tickled Mitchell’s face...he couldn’t feel anything.  
The last thing he saw was the grey creature running away from him, leaving him to die in the snow-covered field.

‘Please...don’t….go..’ Mitchell thought before he sank into endless oblivion.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ta da?
> 
> The next two chapters will go back to Gideon and will contain a flashback or two :) Not sure yet
> 
> Thanks to everyone who left kudos/comments! They really mean a lot to me and help me improve my writing (if I'm improving at all...I can't tell :/)
> 
> Take Care and Party Hard :0)


	3. Chapter 3 (Present Day)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Gideon attempts to heal Mitchell while Bandit tries to pitch in as well

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey y'all :0)
> 
> Here is another chapter! This one takes place right were Chapter One left off! This one contains some cuddling and body heat stuff (so if you ship these two, I guess now would be the time look at this scene through a shippers lens :) .)
> 
> Warning: Grammatical/Spelling errors and possibly slight OOC-ness
> 
> I hope you enjoy!!!!

_**(Present Day)** _

**(December 22, 2065. 10:10 hours)**  
Bandit, the grey Siberian Husky, ran with all of his speed towards the igloo, Gideon slowly following him. The soldier was carrying his friend, someone who currently could pass as an extra from Titanic, on his shoulder. The former Captain couldn’t jostle the freezing man too much in his already fragile state; it could potentially make things worse. Despite the freezing cold, Gideon took as much time as he needed in order to get his friend back to safety without causing anymore damage. When he finally reached the igloo, Gideon lowered himself down and gently angled himself so Mitchell could slide off his shoulder with ease. He lowered the freezing man on top of the previously occupied sleeping bag before he ran towards the open entrance and began to rebuild the “door” that blocked the freezing wind completely out. While he was doing so, Bandit began to whimper and slowly crawl on his belly towards the lifeless form lying on the sleeping bag. Bandit approached the figure and slowly licked the man’s ice-cold cheek in a gentle manner; he was unhappy that the act didn’t generate any kind of response. He then whined and then slowly crawled backwards away from the man on the sleeping bag, unsure of what to do next. Suddenly, his head popped up from where it was resting on the cold ground and the husky slowly walked to Mitchell. After walking around in a circle for a couple of seconds, Bandit lowered his upper body on top of Mitchell’s chest so that his double-layered fur coat would provide the man some warmth. He placed his head right above the man’s beating heart, his tail slowly wagging and his whimpering still continuing. Three minutes later, the snow-covered Gideon finally sealed the last piece of snow before he made his way towards his dying friend. He briefly stopped and stared at the warm sight of Bandit half lying on Mitchell’s chest in a protective and caring manner. After a couple of seconds, Gideon shook his head and made his way towards the first aid kit that laid underneath the cot. He swiped it from its original location and carried it over to the two figures on the sleeping bag.

When Gideon kneeled down besides Mitchell, he could see Bandit’s tail wag with anger and alertness. In order to calm the now protective dog, he slowly brought his hand up to the dog’s ear.  
“Easy boy,” he said, “I’m not going to hurt you or him. I need to examine him but I can’t do that if you are on top of him.” He moved his hand even closer to the dog’s ear. “Please? Once I’m done, then you can continue being a guard dog.”  
After a couple of minutes of staring at the man’s hand, Bandit slowly leaned his head so that the human could gently scratch his ear; to be honest, he loved the feeling of someone scratching his ear. Once he had enough scratching, he slowly got up from where he was lying and moved around the figure and sat down right across from the soldier, his eyes never leaving the motionless form below him. Sighing, Gideon took out a pair of surgical scissors and positioned himself so that he could cut the frozen cloth to the best of his ability. As soon as the blades surrounded the almost completely frozen cloth, Gideon took a huge breath and slowly proceeded to remove the unconscious man’s damp long-sleeved t-shirt. The entire time, Gideon’s eyes never strayed from the task; even Bandit continually licking Mitchell’s cheek didn’t falter his attention, no matter how sweet the sight was. A couple of minutes later, Gideon finally cut a technically straight line right in the center of the shirt, now making it removable like a jacket. Satisfied with the results, Gideon moved down to Mitchell’s legs and began to cut off the pant legs starting from the bootcut. Usually, if someone were asleep or unconscious, soldiers would usually pull the clothes over the limp form in order to peel them off of the unresponsive soldier’s form. However, this situation was different: as he thought earlier, any sudden and harsh movements could potentially kill anyone who was hypothermic. Although cutting the clothes away from the form’s body took more time and effort, it was the safest route and wouldn’t put anyone at risk. He finished cutting vertical lines on the pant legs and tossed the scissors aside.  
“Okay Mitchell,” Gideon whispered to the oblivious man, “I’m going to try to slide the clothes from under you. I’ll try to make this quick.”  
Gideon closed his eyes for a second, mentally preparing himself for the task, before he gently removed the now torn clothes from under the limp form. The task turned out to be surprisingly easy; compared to peeling off clothes from scratch, this action was much more efficient and safe. Satisfied Mitchell’s pants were completely off (Gideon left his boxers on, of course), he made quick work of removing the shirt that originally covered Mitchell. Once the shirt was gone, Gideon was now staring at a shirtless and pantless Mitchell. Gideon noticed the blue bruises that covered the entire Private’s chest; he would have to wait to wrap them until Mitchell was awake. He leaned forward, gently removed the combat boots and wet socks that were still on Mitchell, and threw them across the igloo. Once that task was done, Gideon ran over to the supplies and began to grab everything he would need in order to safely provide heat for Mitchell.

He found an extra sleeping bag that the Sentinel soldiers thankfully left him, a portable heater, and extra thick clothes...he would save them when Mitchell was awake and coherent enough to put on clothes without harming his body even more. He did, however, grab his famous beanie he had worn almost his entire time as a soldier, and removed it from the large duffle bag. He walked back to Mitchell, the tools in hand, and began to set things up. He didn’t want to use the portable heater not only because it had a small battery life, but also because it could potentially melt the igloo and expose them to the harsh winter. However, there was a setting that wouldn’t make the space too hot, thus melting the igloo, but it also would give Mitchell the heat he needed in order to recover. He set the heater up and placed it inches away from Mitchell. Gideon himself began to feel the slight warmth hit him and he almost melted with joy and happiness; it wasn’t much, but it was better than what he experienced the past couple of days. Gideon then unwrapped the extra sleeping bag and unzipped the main zipper, making the sleeping bag into a thick blanket that they BOTH could lie on top of. Once he placed it now “matress” right near the heater, Gideon made his way forward and braced himself for what he was about to do next. He slide on arm underneath Mitchell’s legs and the other underneath his shoulders and was ready to lift the soldier so that he could lie on the “mattress” rather than thin and crowded sleeping bag he was currently lying on.  
“Okay mate,” Gideon said, “one...two..three!”

He gently picked the man up and quickly made his way to the open sleeping bag. Despite being the same height (as well as both being fit), Gideon didn’t have much trouble picking up his friend. That could be also because either Mitchell lost a significant amount of weight the past couple of years or because he himself was getting stronger and stronger. He made it to the sleeping bag in two quick glides and he gently lowered his cargo onto the “mattress”. He ran back to the old sleeping bag and unzipped that one as well, now creating a large, thick, and warm quilt that they could lie underneath. He ran back and placed the open bag over Mitchell’s form that still has yet to shiver. Sighing, he kneeled down next to Mitchell’s head and gently pushed aside his more softer and limp hair away from his eyes, before placing his beanie onto the brown mop of hair. Now came the what he considered the embarrassing, yet crucial, part of warming up Mitchell.

He took off his own white jacket, then multiple sweaters, then long-sleeved shirts, and then finally undershirt, leaving him completely shirtless and exposed to the cold. Gideon shivered and almost automatically slide under the covers with Mitchell. He wasn’t going to take off his pants for Mitchell; not only was it dangerous to warm up a hypothermic person’s legs, but also he wanted to keep a little bit of dignity. Once he was situated under the covers, his body farther away from the heater, thus providing Mitchell with as much heat as the heater would allow it to, he slowly pressed his exposed upper body against Mitchell’s. To sum up the feeling Gideon felt: it felt like he was hugging a huge block of ice.  
"Fuck fuck fuck" he chanted continually, taken aback by how cold Mitchell was.  
He almost pushed away from Mitchell due to the sudden coldness, but he knew he had to stay strong and be one of the main sources of heat for Mitchell. He forced himself to press himself even closer against Mitchell, his body shivering violently at the sudden contact. He wrapped his arms around Mitchell’s frame and pulled the soldier even closer, as well as providing him with extra warmth and now protection. He lifted Mitchell’s head so that it was now resting against his own bare chest. Closing his eyes, Gideon finally adjusted to the temperature and relaxed. He found himself unintentionally talking to an unconscious Mitchell.

“I’m kinda glad you're out of it mate,” he began, “or else I would have to threaten your very existence if you found out about this.” He looked downwards to see Mitchell still asleep. Before he could continue, Bandit trotted over, crawled underneath the blanket, and situated himself so that he was pressed against Gideon’s back, which didn’t receive heat from both the heater or the body warmth. Bandit laid down against Gideon’s back and placed his muzzle right where Gideon’s hip was. Gideon could help but sigh at the sudden warmth as well as adorable sight of Bandit lying underneath a thick blanket so that he could be warm as well. He quickly removed his hand that was wrapped around Mitchell’s shoulders and reached over behind him to gently stroke the fur underneath the blanket. His actions received a response of warm saliva spreading across his fingertips. After a second, he removed his hand from Bandit’s fur and placed it back right around Mitchell’s bare shoulders. He stared at the Private’s brown hair and continued his story.

“I thought you were dead” he whispered. “Hell, we all thought you were dead...they all gave up on you three.”

He let his mind revisit the past couple of days Mitchell was gone, the memories and arguments still fresh in his mind.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> yay??
> 
> The next chapter will be part flashback, part present day. It will explain why Gideon is alone in the igloo to begin with, how he meant Bandit, and also MAY include Mitchell being awake ;)
> 
> Questions/Comments/Concerns/Insults/Thoughts of Love?? Feel free to share them!! I love reading them :0)
> 
> Take Care and Party Hard :0)


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Gideon confronts Kelly about the mission, leading him to make a seemingly easy decision that ends up sparking more questions and guilt.  
> Gideon also meets a young Husky and discovers that they both have some things in common

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey y'all :0)
> 
> Here is Chapter 4! This is probably the worst thing I've ever written, so I'm deeply sorry about it (I tried my absolute hardest and I'm still not happy with the results :/ )
> 
> Warning: Grammatical/Spelling erros and possibly slight OOC-ness
> 
> I hope you enjoy!!!

_**Flashback (3 Days Ago)  
** _

**(December 19, 2065 16:00 hours)**  
For the past three hours, the remaining Sentinel squad who survived the ambush, and who didn’t get swept away by the fall, searched the perimeter in order to retrieve the two soldiers who were swept away by the waterfall. Throughout the journey, Gideon felt two things: unimaginable guilt at the thought that he didn’t pull Mitchell away in time, and dubious anger towards Kelly. As a Commander himself, Gideon knew that this mission was not only horribly planned, but the actions following the sudden turn of events were also horrible. Out of the total six hours, three of them were devoted to finishing off the remaining enemy troops (which was understandable) and then proceeding to head in the direction the soldiers were shooting from, rather than immediately search for Mitchell and Schultz. On the one hand, Gideon understood the need to pick out any remaining soldiers...but then again two other soldiers fell into dangerously cold and violent rapids and were swept away God knows how far and how long. Gideon just wanted the two soldiers found  alive and the more time they wasted, the smaller those chances were. It was around their sixth hour, around 16:00 during a heavy snowfall, when the squad found something that froze Gideon on the spot: two piles of frozen blood. After unburying it from the now three feet of snow, the soldiers found that one of the piles seemed to leave a trail that began much farther down the end of the waterfall: one of the soldiers must’ve crawled to the other. The second pile of blood was much smaller and didn’t seem as serious and was much closer to the water. Still, the sight of blood made Gideon’s heart drop a little, and in order to calm himself he rubbed his glove-covered hand over his mouth and chin.   
“Oh Mitchell” Gideon muttered almost silently.  
The men tried to dig around in case there was more trails of blood that would help them with their rescue, but unfortunately there was no trail and, to make matters more difficult, the snowfall began to increase.   
“Alright men,” Kelly’s voice yelled over the otherwise silent forest, “we need to head back and make our way towards Anchorage.”  
All of the men, including Gideon, nodded and they made their way back towards their original point. As they were heading up, Gideon’s eyes never strayed from the pools of blood.

**(December 19, 2065 20:00 hours)**

The soldiers ended up having to build an igloo because the temperature dropped dangerously low and they couldn’t afford to move forward and put anymore soldiers at risk. After building the igloo, the six men managed to fit in the medium-sized space. The men were debating what the next plan should be, in terms of finding Mitchell and Schultz. To Gideon’s surprised, everyone, except him, wanted to head back to the city and wait a couple of days until the weather “warmed up”. Gideon automatically objected.

“You guys can’t be serious,” Gideon shot back. “Those two can’t afford to wait. The temperature is dangerously low, they already fell into freezing water, and based on what we saw back there, both of them are bleeding.”  
“They’re both probably K.I.A anyhow,” Sergeant William Ford said from where he was seated, his raven hair covering his green eyes, “we shouldn’t risk our own health for two soldiers who probably won’t even last the rest of the night.”  
Gideon’s jaw almost dropped to the floor: he honestly couldn’t believe that his entire squad were willing to abandon the other two. He grew up living by the code “no man left behind”...there was no way he was going to break that code now, especially when one of his closest friend’s life depended on the team. He shook his head and suggested,  
“We need to at least try again tomorrow.”  
“Out of the question” Kelly shot back, his voice firm with enormous traces of authority. “We are not risking more men to look for three others, one who is already dead.” It was at that moment when Gideon felt his blood boil, which actually felt nice considering their current situation.  
“So we’re just going to leave those two to die?!”  
“No-”  
“Then what the hell are you proposing? Because based on what I’m hearing, you’re willing to leave those two for dead without even trying.”  
He could see that Kelly was beginning to get mad as well, but his response was calm.   
“We should stay here for the night...and then try to head back to the city and wait until the weather is better and warmer.”  
“In case you forgot,” Gideon shot back, “we’re in Alaska...in fucking December! According to meteorologists, scientists, and residents, it won’t be warm for an extremely long time. We can’t afford to wait.”  
“And in case YOU forgot,” Kelly said, his voice now raised, “this mission isn’t suppose to last this long. We don’t have enough supplies to last us for more than another day. We have sleeping bags, two cots, and little food. If we stay here any longer, we will ALL die.”  
Suddenly, Private Ryan Sweeney spoke up, his voice calm and quiet. “Why can’t we just contact Sentinel HQ? They could drop supplies and the things we need to find them.”  
“The weather isn’t safe for them to airdrop anything. There’s suppose to be storm after storm after storm here and, according to Sentinel, we need to be back to where we were dropped off by tomorrow morning.”  
“Then why the bloody hell did you want us to complete this mission now? We should’ve waited for another day, when the weather would actually remain nice and calm!”  
Kelly began to stand up, Gideon mimicking his actions. “Are you questioning my decisions?” Kelly’s voice was low and almost threatening. Normally, Gideon would never think of challenging any commander: fucking hell, he IS a Commander and he never questioned his own decisions. But this time was different: the mission was poorly planned out, lead, and now two soldiers were going to be left for dead because of this man’s poor decisions. He had to say something.  
“Two lives are on the line because of you.” His voice was firm and almost guilt-ridden. “There were so many things we could’ve done today in order to possibly help those two, but instead, we wasted time chasing enemy soldiers that ended up being a small terrorist group. We shouldn’t have delayed the search...fucking hell, we shouldn’t even be here to begin with! Those missiles weren’t going to go off anytime soon, so why did we head over here to take care of something that didn’t need to be taken care of?!”  
The entire igloo was silent: everyone, including Gideon himself, were in shock at the sudden outburst. Kelly regained his composure and leaned dangerously close to Gideon’s face.  
“You think you could’ve done any better?”  
“Bloody yeah I do” Gideon replied instantly.  
“You’re willing to risk everyone’s life,” Kelly began as he gestured to the other men sitting on the floor, “so you could save one?”  
That took Gideon by surprise. “What the hell are you talking about?”  
“I know how long you and Mitchell have worked together...and I know what  two have been through, bu-”  
“You have _no idea_ what we’ve been through,” Gideon growled lowly, “and you never will.”  
“But” Kelly pressed on, “what you two have been through is finished. You’re in a new squad and are under MY command...things are different. The rules are different.”  
Gideon knew he wouldn’t be able to convince his teammates and Commander to change their minds, so he looked down and closed his eyes. He could either shut up and head back with the squad...or he could go solo and try to find the two soldiers. Making up his mind, Gideon nodded and looked back up at Kelly.  
“Fine,” he said, his voice filled with determination, “if you want to abandon your fellow soldiers, then so be it. But there is no fucking way I’m going to.”  
After a moment of silence, Kelly proceeded. “You’re willing to risk your life for two dead soldiers?”  
“Absolutely...and you should be willing to as well.”  
Kelly smirked and nodded his head, knowing that Gideon’s mind couldn’t be changed. “Alright men, get some sleep. We head out tomorrow at dawn.” While the other men proceeded to get their sleeping gear out, Kelly stared at Gideon.  
“You know, you and I are two very different leaders. I know when to give up and I actually give a shit about the entire squad’s well-being. You’re willing to put everyone at risk, including yourself, in order to find two soldier’s who are K.I.A. Let me ask you this; if Mitchell wasn’t a victim, would you be as willing to find two missing soldiers as you are now?”  
Gideon remained silent: he honestly didn’t have an honest answer.  
“Goodnight Captain.”  
The igloo went dark, leaving Gideon standing in the dark. He slowly made his way to his own sleeping area, his mind completely submerged in Kelly’s words. As he began to drift off to sleep, and after many minutes of thinking, Gideon’s mind kept going back to one statement: He needs to at least try.

He must’ve drifted up off because the next thing he saw was light coming from the cracks of the igloo and extra supplies and a cot lying by his side. Looking around, he found himself completely alone in the igloo.

“Fucking pricks” he said bitterly to himself.

**(December 20, 2065 13:00 hours)**

Gideon spent a good amount of time wandering around the woods, hoping to find one of both of the soldiers alive. Once in a while he would take breaks in order to take care of his hunger or bladder, but besides those times, he could never halt his search. It was around 13:00 when he decided that he should begin to make camp for the night: knowing how fast the darkness and coldness come, he had to start earlier than usual. He found a small open area where he could build an igloo and spend the night. As he was heading over towards the igloo did he hear a whimpering sound. At first, Gideon decided to ignore the sound and continue to head towards the opening. However, the whimpering increased and soon escalated into weak but loud howls that echoed throughout the area. Gideon raised his gun and slowly made his way towards the source of the sound. A couple of seconds later, he looked down at the bloody and almost heartbreaking sight.

A Siberian Husky, who looked no older than five months old, was pacing back and forth besides an elderly Husky that was covered in scratches and blood. From what Gideon could see, an animal must’ve killed the older dog, leaving the younger dog to fend for itself. Both dogs were mostly grey, however, it’s face and legs were perfectly white. The dog’s eyes were a beautiful blue, which captivated Gideon’s own blue eyes for a couple of seconds. As soon as the dog’s eyes found Gideon’s gun, it automatically whimpered and began to back away. Gideon noticed the movements and instantly lowered the gun and slowly reached out his hand.  
“Easy there,” he whispered, “I’m not going to hurt you.”  
The dog’s head tilted dramatically to the side before it slowly approached Gideon, his nose sniffing the ground as he approached. As soon as the Husky was within Gideon’s reach, the soldier gently and slowly glided his hand across the back of the husky; he repeated this motion for a while until the dog’s tail began to wag with happiness and contempt. After a couple of moments staring at each other, Gideon finally decided to stand up and walk towards the open area. Once he reached his full height, Gideon noticed the dog shrink back in fear, its tail now bending down and stiff between its legs. Gideon smiled and began to walk away, motioning the husky to follow him. When the only husky stared at the departing soldier, Gideon whistled and motioned his hand in the direction he was heading towards. The dog’s tail began to wag with anticipation and excitement, so it began to follow him away from its dead family member. Once they both reached the clear, Gideon put down his equipment and began to pile up thick snow in order to build another igloo. While Gideon was constructing the igloo, the husky simply sat down in the snow and stared at him with awe and curiosity. Every time Gideon cursed or whistled a tune, the husky’s ears would twitch and his head would tilt from one side to another. Eventually, however, the dog got bored and began to play around in the snow; jumping up and down and patting odd looking patches of snow with it’s paw.  
Half an hour later, Gideon finished building the igloo and began to head inside, the husky slowly following him. Once they entered the igloo, Gideon began to organize the equipment and sleeping supplies. While doing so, he grabbed a pack of carrots that were in his bag and placed three of them down onto the ground. The dog stared at them, wondering what to do with them.  
“You just going to stare at them,” Gideon said while he was unpacking, “or are you going to eat them?”  
The husky slowly made its way to the items on the ground and, after a couple of sniffs, ate the carrots. His tail began to wag with happiness and he barked with joy. Gideon flinched at the sudden noise but continued his work. Finally, Gideon unpacked everything, sealed the igloo’s opening, and lied down on his sleeping bag.

The soldier turned his head and saw the husky sitting down across from him, staring at the man with confusion and curiosity. Gideon sat up and spread his legs apart, creating a small hole for the dog to lie on. He patted the open surface and motioned the dog to come towards him. To his surprise, the husky instantly ran forward and lied down on the padded surface, it’s head resting on Gideon’s thigh. Smiling, Gideon lied back down and stared at the cracks on top of the igloo. Kelly’s words shook him and occupied his mind almost the entire day.  
‘If Mitchell’s life wasn’t on the line, would he be caring as much as he currently is? And if not, does that make him a bad Captain or, even worse, a selfish person?’  
Gideon closed his eyes at these thoughts and his breathing hitched a tiny bit at the idea of him being a bad person. He’s spent his entire life trying to be a good man: fucking hell, he thought Atlas would solidify his ideal vision of himself. But when that turned out to be crap, he left (and fought against) the corporation. He’s always tried his hardest to prove to others that he’s a good person. However, when Mitchell came into his life, everything slowly changed. He didn’t feel like he needed to prove that he had a kind and sensible heart; Mitchell knew he had one the moment they began to work together. For the first time in his life, Gideon didn’t have to prove anyone anything because that person could see right through him. He didn’t want to lose the person who made saw the real (or ideal) him, or the person who looks up to him (and vise versa), or the person who simply made him smile with his stupidity, ignorance, and kindness. Mitchell let him lower his guard down, making him feel like he could be himself.  He didn’t want to lose him because of Kelly’s stupidity and ignorance. He’s lost too many people under his command: Mitchell is one of the very few who actually survived. The moment he is placed under someone else’s command, his life’s in grave danger. Gideon didn’t want to lose Mitchell: he just couldn’t lose him.

‘Look at yourself,’ Gideon mentally scolded, ‘this is the exact reason why you are selfish! Don’t wanna lose the man who makes you feel good...sounds pretty selfish to me.’

The dog must’ve sensed his distress because Gideon felt a light weight on his belly button and when he looked down to inspect what it was, he saw the husky’s head now resting on his stomach. Smiling, Gideon reached one of his hands downwards and began to gently scratch the dog’s ears. The dog closed its eyes and sighed. Gideon began to speak.  
“You know...you remind me of me.” The dog’s head lifted up at the remark and slightly tilted. Gideon continued.  
“We're both known to be vicious, cold-hearted, and born leaders. However, in reality, you and I are simply two creatures who are trying to survive in this cruel and fucked up world. And to top it off, you and I both lost someone we care about... Let me ask you this,” Gideon sat up and leaned closer to the dog, who was now sitting up and staring at him, “if I hadn’t come across you, would you’ve left the other dog’s side? Or would you’ve still been willing to follow me and leave your friend behind?” The husky suddenly trotted over to Gideon’s side and then lied down next to him so that it’s head was now resting on Gideon’s hip. Smiling, Gideon gently petted the husky one more time before lying back down on the bag.  
“When you wake up tomorrow, you better have an answer for me, you sod.” The dog simply licked Gideon’s fingertips and then lied back down against Gideon.  
“Goodnight...Bandit?”  
He briefly looked downwards and saw the husky’s tail wag happily, approving of the name.  
“Okay. Bandit it is.”

 

_**(Present Day)** _

**(December 22, 2065. 11:50 hours)**  
“So to sum up the last two days,” Gideon continued to himself, “basically Bandit and I kept searching for you and Schultz. We found this igloo last night which, thankfully, didn’t have much snowfall. Oh yeah, and Bandit never answered the damn question...”

The Captain looked down at the still freezing body in his arms and sighed sadly. He had no fucking clue how Mitchell survived not only the fall, but also the freezing cold water and temperature. The tough son of a bitch somehow made it to him and he couldn’t feel anymore pride if he tried.  
“I will say this,” Gideon whispered in the sleeping man’s ear, “I’m glad I’m here with you now, and I don’t regret leaving the team, or the moments I spent searching for you.”  
To his surprise, he felt Mitchell shift weakly in his arms. Gideon positioned his body, as well as Mitchell’s, so that they would be seeing eye to eye if Mitchell decided to wake up. Bandit, who was currently lying besides Gideon’s back, sensed the human was awakening and got up from where he was resting in order to sit down right behind Mitchell’s head. Mitchell’s head shifted weakly and his moans were almost silent. After a couple of tense moments, Gideon was now looking into the half-mast, unfocused, and barely lively eyes of Private Jack Mitchell. He could tell that Mitchell was using a lot of his strength to focus on Gideon, so Gideon himself tried to calm the barely awake man.  
“Shhh, it’s okay Mitchell,” he quietly whispered, “I’m right here with you. Go back to sleep.”

He saw Mitchell’s eyes focus on him for a second, before they slowly closed back down. Happy that Mitchell at least woke up, Gideon smiled and wrapped his arms around Mitchell’s body again. To his surprise, he felt Mitchell’s head nuzzle closer in the crook of his neck and sighed once he found a warmer area. Smiling down at the now sleeping man, Gideon pushed himself even closer to the still freezing body. His eyes found Bandit's, who was looking at him with curiosity and happiness.  
“You tell any of your woodland friends what’s taking place,” Gideon gently threatened, “you’re a dead dog.”  
Bandit’s response was to lie down and curl his body around Gideon and Mitchell’s heads, providing both men some more warmth. Gideon couldn’t help by smirk at the fact that Bandit’s tail kept whacking Mitchell’s face. He reached his hand and gently rubbed Bandit’s head, rewarding him for the warmth and love he was providing the two humans.  
“Good boy.”  
Bandit simply licked Gideon's forehead before he nuzzled his own head closer to the human's. 

Gideon pulled the ice cold body closer and closed his eyes, praying that tomorrow would be better for both himself, Bandit, and Mitchell.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yay! Mitchell woke up (for about ten seconds) :D The next chapter will feature more Mitchell than the last one did! I also love Bandit/dogs in general, so Bandit (and possibly a different Siberian Husky puppy ) will hopefully be featured in the next chapter!!
> 
> Questions/Comments/Concerns/Insults/Thoughts of Love?? Feel free to tell me!! I love reading the comments (both fun and constructive ones) :D
> 
> Take Care and Party Hard :0)


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> While Gideon is hunting for food, he meets a new friend and comes back to the igloo to a frightening sight

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey y'all :0)
> 
> Sorry for the lack of updates! I have a HUGE midterm and I didn't want to get behind with my work. I found a time (2 a.m) to write another chapter!!! I'll TRY to update more frequently, but midterms are preventing me from doing so :(
> 
> Warning: Grammatical/Spelling errors and possibly slight OOC-ness
> 
> I hope you enjoy!!!

**(December 22, 2065. 14:00 hours)**  
Bandit’s blue eyes opened and he found himself staring at the still sleeping form of the fluffy haired and younger man. He slowly stretched out his front legs and bent his hind back upwards, relaxing his sore muscles. After a couple of seconds, Bandit stood up and shook his grey fur coat, releasing all of the muscle tension he was feeling before. He looked down and stared at the sleeping man, trying to figure out what to do next. He looked around their home and noticed that the man with shorter hair and who’s been with him longer was now gone: he was now alone with the motionless form. Needing to take care of business, Bandit charged through the closed entrance and broke out into the snowy field. The first thing he felt was the dramatic change in the temperature and weather; it was much colder and the snowfall became slightly more violent. After peeing, Bandit trotted into the igloo in order to check on the human. Unfortunately, he opened the entrance and now the cold air was shooting into the igloo. Bandit walked over to the human and after circling the form for a couple of seconds, he lied down right beside the human and placed his head on top of the human’s exposed neck. He sighed and was about to go back to sleep when he felt that something was off. He stood up and sniffed the human’s nose before gently nudging it with his own snout. He jumped a couple of inches away from the human in shock when  wet coughing noises suddenly came out of the human’s mouth. Bandit could see little chunks of wet stuff coming out of the human’s mouth and beginning to pile up right next to the warm bed. Curious, Bandit leaned down and sniffed the mysterious substance and then froze at the familiar smell: blood. He began to whimper and pace back and forth, unsure of what to do now that the other human was gone. Bandit tried to wake the human by licking his forehead, cheek, and ears but was still only rewarded with violent and loud coughs that seemed to only get worse; blood continued to spill out of the human’s mouth and pool onto the ground. Panicking, Bandit ran back out into the snow and began to howl loudly into the evening sky.

Gideon had just spent the last three hours trying to hunt something down to eat, knowing that there was going to be an intense storm in a couple of hours. He managed to not only kill a couple of rabbits, but also a deer; he skinned the deer and put the meat into his backpack. As he was heading back to Mitchell, he saw an infant husky, this time a brown and white one, following him probably because of the smell of meat. He looked down and saw that the puppy looked around one month old, was limping pretty badly, and shivering. Gideon was extremely tempted to just pick up the pup from the ground and bring it back to the igloo, but they had too many occupants already and one more may just make things more complicated. He was about to turn away when the pup ran in front of him and pulled one of the most heartbreaking puppy eyes Gideon has ever seen in his entire life; hell, even the dogs he had to kill in combat didn’t have this amount of innocence and sadness in their eyes. Kneeling down, Gideon gently petted the pups fur.  
“Aw mate I’m sorry,” he began, “we just don’t have enou-”  
The pup whimpered and leaned into Gideon’s hand, tail wagging with contempt and happiness. Sighing, Gideon picked up the puppy and was automatically greeted with a warm tongue licking his nose. He knew that taking care of the puppy would add even more tasks for him, but he couldn’t turn away from the injured, cold, and downright adorable puppy.  
“Damn you” Gideon sighed in gentle tone. He needed to get back to Mitchell and Bandit, so with a dramatic sigh, he hoisted his backpack and gun onto his shoulders and carried the small bundle of fur in his arms.  
“Bright side, Bandit now has a playmate” Gideon remarked to himself, which earned him another lick, this time on his chin. Smirking, he walked back towards the igloo.  
He was almost there when he saw Bandit running out of the igloo with almost desperation and worry. The older dog suddenly howled out into the air. Gideon’s attention shifted for a brief second when the puppy in his arms howled right back, although the howl wasn’t as loud or strong as Bandit’s. Gideon looked back up and saw Bandit charging towards him at high speed through the deep snow. Gideon instantly ran up to the dog in order to meet him halfway but was suddenly nearly thrown off his feet by the dog himself. Gideon’s first thought was that Bandit was excited to either eat or check out the bundle in his arms. To his surprise, Bandit ran around him and began to forcefully nudge his legs towards the igloo. Gideon tried to calm the dog down, but Bandit continued to push him towards the igloo, barking loudly in the process.  
‘Mitchell...’ Gideon thought. He found himself running towards the igloo with as much speed as he could, Bandit right on his heels.

When they got to the igloo, Gideon first gently placed the younger pup down onto the ground, threw the backpack down, and quickly sealed off the entrance that had been opened. After the task was done, he turned around and saw Bandit whimpering at Mitchell, who coughing out a good amount of blood.  
“Jesus Christ” Gideon muttered before charging to his friend’s side, swiping the pup off the ground in the process. Once he reached Mitchell’s side, he gently put the pup down onto the open area of the sleeping bag and began to scan Mitchell.  
Mitchell was still pale as snow and his lips were still blue, creating a huge contrast between his now completely limp and fluffy brown hair and his pale white figure. Mitchell’s breathing sounded labored and his brow was scrunched up in pain. He tightened the now loose quilt around Mitchell’s form before placing his hand on the younger man’s shoulder, rubbing the soldier’s arm in a gentle manner in order to comfort the poor man. He kneeled down, lowered his head so that it was close to Mitchell’s, and began to gently whisper words of reassurance and comfort while quickly wiping the tiny drops of blood off of Mitchell's lips with his sleeve.  
“Easy Mitchell,” he quietly said, “everything is okay. I’m right here mate. You’re okay....”  
To his surprise, Mitchell’s eyes blinked open and quickly found Gideon’s own eyes. Gideon was about to pull his famous cocky smile but he was stopped when Mitchell suddenly leaped onto his feet, the quilt flying off of his body and covering both dogs. Thankfully, before he left to go hunting, Gideon put on a pair of warm and dry pants on Mitchell while he was still unconscious.  
“Least you’re not standing in just your boxers” Gideon quietly said to himself, as well as Mitchell.  
Gideon was about reach for Mitchell’s bare shoulders to lower the form back onto the sleeping bag when he suddenly froze with shock and absolute fear; Mitchell was pointing his BAL-27 right at him.

Slowly, Gideon raised his hands up in surrender and spoke to the soldier in a quiet and calm tone, which contradicted how he really was feeling.  
“Mitchell” Gideon said, “take it easy.”   
He began to slowly make his way towards the soldier. As he got closer, he could see that his friend’s eyes were glassy, unfocused, and reflected extreme fear and confusion. He could also see sweat forming on his face, lips, and neck, sticking his limp hair to his forehead. He continued to make his way towards the apparently delirious Mitchell.   
“Mitchell...you’re sick. You need to put the gun down so I can take care of y-”  
“You’re not real” Mitchell muttered, his fever-glazed eyes wide and pleading.  
“What are you talking about mate?” Gideon was confused as hell but right now his main priority was to get the loaded gun away from the sick soldier.  
“I saw you die…”  
“Look Mitchell...” Gideon took another small step towards the soldier.  
“NO!” Mitchell’s grip on the gun became more intense and harder. He raised the gun even higher so that it was now pointing right at Gideon’s chest. “I SAW IRONS KILL YOU!!!!”  
Gideon instinctively backed up further while his arms remained in a surrender position. His voice, however, contained much more concern and nervousness.  
“Woah! Mitchell,” Gideon pressed forward, “whatever you saw...it wasn’t real.”  
Mitchell’s head tilted in confusion, almost mimicking Bandit’s head tilt. Gideon knew he was reaching him.  
“Mitchell...whatever your already fucked up brain conjured up back there wasn’t real!” Gideon emphasized the last part of the sentence clearly and firmly.  
Mitchell’s eyes looked down and scanned the ground frantically, his weakened mind trying to process the information. Gideon took that movement as his cue to try again to move forward.  
“I’m right here,” he whispered, his hands slowly reaching for the gun in the other’s soldier’s now weakened grip. “Please. You’re sick and I want to take care of you. But I can’t do that if you’re pointing my own gun right at me. I’ve got you...I’m going to take care of you.” Even though his words were whispered in order to calm the frightened soldier, Gideon’s determination and heart behind those words were loud and clear; he wasn’t going to leave Mitchell ever...not until Mitchell himself wanted him gone anyhow. If Kelly wanted him to abandon Mitchell, then he would just have to go fuck himself; he wasn’t leaving the man who's been with him longer than any other of his friends (with the exception of Ilona). If that made him a bad leader, or even a bad person, then so be it. He wasn’t about to let the man he loved like a brother fall ever...and he knew Mitchell wouldn’t let him fall either.

Gideon’s hands finally reached the gun and he slowly pried the weapon from the sick soldier’s hands. Once he was sure that Mitchell completely let go of the gun, he quickly tossed it behind him and kicked it somewhere in the igloo. He walked over to Mitchell and gently placed his hand on Mitchell’s bare shoulder. He saw Mitchell stare at the hand on his shoulder; he looked like he was trying to convince himself that the hand was real. In order to officiate this, Gideon gently squeezed the shoulder and began to move closer to the soldier. He was standing only a couple of inches in front of Mitchell, his hand never leaving it’s place, and he shot Mitchell a warm (and almost sad) smile.  
“I’m here with you Mitchell and I won't leave you until you want me to...I promise.”  
Mitchell’s eyes slowly moved upwards in order to see Gideon’s face. He could feel his own weak smile grow on his face.  
“You’re real?” His voice was filled with happiness and hope. “You’re going to stay?”  
Gideon nodded and used his free hand to gently cup the Private’s neck. “You can’t get rid of me that easily. I’ll be right here.”  
“Thank you” the other man sighed.

Suddenly, Mitchell’s eyes drooped dramatically and his body began to sway back and forth.  
'Shit,' Gideon thought, 'he's fading fast.'  
Before Gideon knew it, Mitchell’s legs had folded underneath him and, with a gasp, he began to crumple towards the ground. Gideon quickly looped his arms around Mitchell’s shoulders and slowly kneeled down, bringing the now unconscious soldier with him. Gideon wanted to check on Mitchell, so he positioned his knee so that it would elevate Mitchell’s upper body. Once Mitchell was situated, Gideon took in Mitchell’s sweaty, pale, and peaceful face; to be honest, this was the first time in a long time he’s seen Mitchell sleep this peacefully. Gideon placed his hand that wasn’t attached to the arm that was supporting Mitchell’s back, and gently placed it onto the sick man’s forehead.  
‘High fever’ Gideon deducted. ‘But at least he’s out of the danger-zone.’  
Smiling down at the sleeping Private, he pushed back the Private’s long bangs that were now plastered onto his head before gently lowering the form back onto the sleeping bag. Once Mitchell was placed onto the bag, he let his fingers card their way through the brown hair for a little while longer; while doing so, he heard Mitchell sigh with comfort and content at the movements. After a few more moments, Gideon removed his hand from Mitchell’s hair and he made his way towards the other sleeping bag that had been tossed aside when Mitchell woke up earlier. As he picked up the bag, he saw the two dogs stare at him, their tails wagging in sync with happiness and concern for the sick soldier. For Bandit, this was the first time he saw the brown-haired man completely awake. The younger pup, on the other hand, was excited about the action that had taken place.  
“I hope you two enjoyed the show” Gideon remarked sarcastically to the two dogs. Both dogs just continued to stare at him with excitement.

Sighing, Gideon rummaged through the bag Kelly and his crew were so kind enough to leave him and found a dry white cloth. He grabbed the sleeping bag, the white cloth in his other hand, and made his way back towards the ill man lying on the other bag, completely oblivious of the wind that began to howl outside. Gideon lifted the second sleeping bag and gently placed it over to sleeping man, tucking it tightly around the man. After he was sure that Mitchell was tucked in tightly, Gideon then began to gently dab at Mitchell’s sweaty face and neck; he didn’t want to put water onto the cloth now. Mitchell was just recovering from his encounter with cold water in a freezing environment and putting water onto the cloth could potentially make him even more ill. For now, Gideon would simply let Mitchell sweat out the fever. It was only 14:00 and Gideon wasn’t tired at all, the cold and recent events keeping him awake, so the Captain continued to dab at the sweat that would make its way down Mitchell’s face. While doing so, he began to whisper words of comfort to the ill man, who would once in a while either mumble words of delirium or toss and turn in his sleep.

Around 16:00, Gideon began to feel slightly tired. He kept the cloth on Mitchell’s forehead and made his way over to the backpack that contained the meat he collected while hunting. He grabbed his knife and cut pieces for Bandit and the other pup, who he has yet to name. The two huskies smelled the meat, instantly got up from where they were sitting , and began to crowd Gideon. Gideon tossed pieces of meat to both of the huskies before wrapping the rest of the meat carefully and tightly back into the bag. He placed the backpack into the big dufflebag Kelly’s crew left him so Bandit and his buddy wouldn’t be able to get them. To his surprise, he saw Bandit pick up a tiny piece of leftover meat and push it, with his snout, towards Mitchell, who was still asleep. Smiling, Gideon gently scratched Bandit’s ear and pushed the piece of meat back towards the dog.  
“I don’t think he’ll be needing that for a while mate. Enjoy it while it lasts.” Bandit wagged his tail and quickly gulped down the last of the meat.

Now that everything was taken care of, Gideon could finally rest. He took off his jacket, as well as few sweaters, and got under to covers next to Mitchell. Because Mitchell was no longer hypothermic and didn’t need body heat, Gideon decided to leave on his sweater as well as long-sleeved shirts. Tomorrow, he would try to get Mitchell to put on some more clothes, especially a shirt and sweater, as well. He was lying on his side, facing Mitchell’s back, and began to feel himself drift off. He briefly looked down and saw Bandit and the pup sleeping side by side, the bigger dog curled around the smaller one. Gideon felt Mitchell shift in his sleep and the next thing he knew, Mitchell was lying on his side facing him, The ill man was still asleep and the traces of the fever were still prominent, but at least Mitchell was out of danger. He reached over the form and placed the fallen cloth back onto the man’s forehead. At the touch, Mitchell pressed his cloth-covered head against Gideon’s chest and leaned closer towards him. Gideon smiled and wrapped his arm around Mitchell’s shoulders, bringing the man closer.

Tomorrow, Gideon would contact Sentinel HQ and plan their escape from the frozen hellhole. He would also hopefully hear Mitchell’s side of the story after the fall...and possibly the name he would choose for the younger pup.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *shrugs shoulders*
> 
> I wanted Bandit to have a friend so I added a younger pup into the group. Mitchell is hopefully going to name it in the next chapter...which means I/you will name it :D Have any suggestions for names?? Feel free to write them down :D It'll be kewl to hear what kind of names you all come up with!
> 
> Besides that, if you have any questions/comments/concerns/insults/thoughts of love, feel free to also write those down as well :D
> 
> Take Care and Party Hard :0)


	6. Chapter 6

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Mitchell and Gideon have time to reflect on previous missions, Kelly, and what it means to be a good person.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey y'all :0)
> 
> Here is another chapter!! Thanks to those who sent in suggestions for the younger pup's name!! It was a tough call but I hope that the final result fits :) Feel free to look at the comments in Chapter 5 to see all of the names readers suggested! 
> 
> Warning: Gramatical/Spelling errors and possibly slight OOC-ness
> 
> I hope you enjoy!!!

**(December 23, 2065. 05:00 hours)**  
Mitchell slowly woke up to the sound of howling wind outside of the little fortress he was situated in. He blinked his eyes in order to remaining traces of sleep and was surprised when his vision still remained blurry. He tried to lift his head from where it was resting but was struck with dizziness and his world violently tilted. He quickly laid his head back down on the semi-soft and shifting pillow and..  
‘Wait...what?’  
Mitchell slowly turned his head to the side in order to investigate why his pillow was shifting underneath him and was automatically greeted by the sleeping face of his Captain and friend. Mitchell’s eyes widened at the sudden realization and he instinctively tried to shift his body away from his friend. It was during his actions when he discovered that he was not only extremely weak but also that something across his chest was preventing him from moving away. He glanced at his chest and saw two things: Gideon’s arm wrapped around his chest (which was covered by an open sleeping bag) and a small furry brown and white creature. Without waking his friend, Mitchell weakly brought his shaky hand towards the furry creature and carefully ran it through the beautiful and smooth fur. The creature reacted to the touch and looked at Mitchell with confusion and happiness. Mitchell’s vision focused briefly and he could now see that the creature was siberian husky; a young, brown and white, and beautiful husky. He weakly smiled at the pup and continued to gently stroke the furball.  
“Hey there” he weakly whispered. “Aren’t you a beautiful pup.”  
The pup’s head tilted before it gently crawled on it’s belly closer to Mitchell’s chin. When the pup finally got close enough, it leaned forward and quickly licked Mitchell’s chin. The soldier couldn’t help but weakly giggle, which prompted the husky to continue it’s actions. After a few moments of licking, the pup decided that it was finished, got up from where it was laying, moved onto Mitchell’s left hip, curled up in a ball, and fell back asleep. Smiling at the adorable sleeping pup, Mitchell’s hand gently stroked the fur one more time before falling limply back at his side. Mitchell slowly turned his head so that it was now facing Gideon.

Ever since Irons and Atlas fell, both men hadn’t gotten much sleep. Day after day they were thrown into different locations in order to clear out remaining Atlas or KVA forces that planned to regain control. For the past four years, both men were given endless orders to carry out and never had a break. Sleep was a sacred moment for them, even if i only lasted three hours it was still the most amazing experience. These past couple of weeks have especially been extremely difficult because they were under the command of Kelly. While he would never outwardly admit this to anyone, Mitchell never really liked Kelly; he was too self-righteous, didn’t seem to plan things accordingly, and never let anyone under his command rest for a good amount of time. Gideon and Mitchell pulled countless all-nighters under his command and there were days when they almost collapsed from exhaustion...fucking hell, one time Gideon actually did! During a mission in Iraq, Gideon, Mitchell, and the other soldiers under Kelly’s command were sweeping a location that Kelly believed had important intel for Sentinel. Then towards the evening, Gideon passed out and refused to wake up, despite Mitchell’s frantic efforts. He remained unconscious for two days straight and it scared the absolute hell out of Mitchell. While keeping a strong vigil over his friend until he woke up, Mitchell had time to reflect on Kelly’s leadership; it worried him that Kelly’s determination to complete mission after mission put the health of soldier’s under his command at risk. To this day, he never really forgave Kelly for pushing Gideon to the point where his body HAD to shut down in order to rest.

Now seeing Gideon asleep this peacefully warmed Mitchell’s heart. Without disturbing the sleeping man, Mitchell leaned his head closer towards Gideon’s chest and he found himself drifting off into a healing sleep.  
  
 **(December 23, 2065. 13:00 hours)**  
“FUCK!”  
Mitchell jolted back into consciousness when he heard the sound of a man swearing. He looked up from where he was laying down and saw Gideon on the other side of the igloo, kneeling down and rubbing his mouth in frustration and rage. Mitchell gingerly sat up and stared at his friend with worry and concern. Gideon looked up from the ground and saw Mitchell sitting up. His face lightened up and a smile made his way across his lips.  
“Hey” he said with surprise and happiness, “you’re awake! How are you feeling mate?”  
Mitchell’s response was standing up and slowly making his way towards Gideon. After three seconds, Mitchell’s world blurred and his world began to tilt. He felt a pair of hands heave him up from under his armpits and slowly drag him towards the side of the igloo. Gideon positioned Mitchell so that he was now sitting against the side of the igloo and walked away to grab a long-sleeved shirt and sweater. He handed them to Mitchell.  
“Think you can manage putting these on?”  
Mitchell nodded and slowly began the process of putting on the shirt and sweater. While he was doing so, Gideon fed the huskies and then dragged one of the sleeping bags towards Mitchell. By the time those two tasks were done, Mitchell finished putting on the grey sweater. Gideon nodded with approval, lifted the sleeping bag, and wrapped it around Mitchell’s shoulders. Mitchell grabbed the soft material and wrapped it around himself even tighter, trying to warm himself up. After a few moments of silence, Gideon spoke up.  
“Well...that answers my first question.”

“I’m fine” Mitchell shot back gently. “I’m just a little tired an-”  
“You’re still sick Mitchell,” Gideon said, “so that may be the reason you are still weak.”  
“I said I’m f-”  
“Mitchell, it’s okay if you aren’t one hundred percent. You don’t need to lie to me in order to make me happy.”  
“I know” Mitchell said in defeat. “I just thought I would look weak if I wasn’t okay because of a little cold.”  
“Mitchell,” Gideon said, “you trying to remain tough after being carried away by freezing water in the middle of the Winter, is like me trying to remain tough after staying up for seven straight days; it just doesn’t fucking happen. Mate, there are times when you have to put your dignity aside and just accept that you aren’t feeling that great! So let me ask you again, and you better not give me bullshit for an answer: how are you feeling?”  
Swallowing, Mitchell looked down and sighed. “Honestly, I’m not sure. The temperature keep changing from hellish hot to icy cold, my vision keeps going in and out of focus, and I feel tired.”  
“Probably because of the fever you’re still running” Gideon replied.  
“I guess” Mitchell breathed out. “How are you feeling?”  
Gideon raised his eyebrows with confusion and slight amusement. “You want the truth?”  
Mitchell nodded.  
“Okay. I feel pissed off at Kelly, worried about the storms coming up, and happy that you’re not hypothermic.”

Mitchell shot Gideon a warm smile before he let go of one corner of the sleeping bag creating an empty space. He motioned his head towards the hole he created and silently told Gideon to come over to him. At first, Gideon was extremely reluctant; they already slept inches away from each other, so why did they have to be that close again? However, the temperature outside made him shiver violently and he found himself sitting right next to Mitchell, grabbing his corner of the sleeping bag and wrapping it around his shoulder. After a few moments of awkward silence, Gideon’s voice chimed in.  
“You do realize that if you breath the word about this to anyone that I’ll have to kill you, right?”  
Mitchell smirked. “Yeah, I know the drill.”  
He looked up from where they both were sitting and saw the grey husky gently play with the brown husky that was on his chest a couple of hours ago. He stared at the grey husky, trying to figure out if he had seen it before. Gideon must’ve sensed his confusion because he answered Mitchell’s silent question.  
“The grey one’s named Bandit. I came across him three days ago in the woods and we’ve been sticking together ever since. He found you unconscious and barely alive in the snow two days ago and helped me warm you up. He’s a curious one, I’ll tell you that...but he’s also extremely loyal and caring, so I guess that evens things out.”  
“What about the brown one?”  
“I met that one yesterday...all I know is that it’s a female pup. I haven’t named her yet.” After a beat, Gideon continued. “You have any names for her?”  
Mitchell stared at the brown pup for a long time in order to try to come up with a name that would suit an adorable and sweet little thing like her.   
After a couple of moments, he finally replied, “Sakari?”  
For a second, Gideon stared at Mitchell as if he went crazy, and then directed his attention back to the pups playing.  
“I guess that’ll work” he said. To be honest, he really liked that name...but there was no way he would admit it to Mitchell.  
“Do you remember what happened after you fell?”  
Mitchell swallowed and closed his eyes, his grip on the “blanket” tightening at the clips of memories that attacked him. He swallowed shakily and began.

“It’s all bits and pieces...I remember waking up to water and being swept away by the current. Suddenly there was this huge drop and I was free-falling in the air. I landed in more water, was carried by a more violent current, pulled underwater, and then slammed my head against a rock underneath the water. I woke up to see Schultz bleeding out and kneeling next to me. I stopped the bleeding and we walked around in the forest for hours. We finally found a cave and passed out for who knows how long. I woke up to see Schultz barely alive and pale as snow; he wanted me to leave him. I carried him for a long time, hoping to get him somewhere safe...by the time I collapsed, he was…”  
Mitchell couldn’t say that word, so he closed his eyes and looked away from Gideon. He felt an arm snake their way around his shoulders and gently pull him closer towards Gideon.  
“You tried your best” Gideon softly said.  
“Yeah” he said, not believing Gideon’s words of comfort. After blinking away tears, he continued his story.  
“I don’t remember much after I left Schultz. I remember seeing Will, Irons...and you. I saw Irons put a bullet in your head and then you both just..vanished.”  
“You were probably hallucinating” Gideon replied nonchalantly.  
“I saw you die” Mitchell said, sounding heartbroken and upset. Gideon squeezed Mitchell’s shoulder and moved his head down so that Mitchell could see him better.  
“I’m right here mate. I’m not going anywhere…”  
“After you collapsed in Iraq...I thought you we-”  
“That was just an unfortunate event: I recovered and am here with you now. I’m not going anywhere until you want me to.”  
Mitchell finally met Gideon’s eyes and he nodded in order to show Gideon that he heard him loud and clear.  
“Thanks. And I’ll always be here for you too.” His remark earned him a smile from Gideon.  
“So what happened while I was gone?”

Gideon felt his blood boil at the memory of Kelly stalling their rescue mission, leaving Mitchell and Schultz for dead, and then insulting him. Gideon tried to sound nice but he ended up spitting out the words in a harsh and dark tone.  
“After you fell, Kelly wanted us to pursuit out attackers rather than try to find you two. We spent three hours wandering around aimlessly and by the time he came to his senses, it was almost dark; we only spent three out of the six hours we had left looking for you. When we set up camp we tried to figure out what to do next...he wanted to leave you two until it was, and I quote, ‘warmer’. The fucktard seemed to forget that we’re in Alaska in December; warmth doesn’t exist. I tried to convince the others to continue to look for you but he wasn’t having any of it. We got into a fight an-”  
“What was the fight about?”  
“It was over you…” Gideon’s voice now softened and showed hints of sadness.  
“What?”  
“His decisions nearly got you killed...fucking hell it got two of our men killed! He left you for dead Mitchell.” After a moment of silence, Gideon continued. “I just couldn’t leave you here to die Mitchell. We’ve been through too much and there’s no way I was going to end it all because one sorry excuse for a leader fucked up his job...I guess that makes me a bad Captain, huh?”  
“What are you talking about? You wanting to stay behind and find us is not being a bad leader…”  
“If you weren’t in that dangerous position, I don’t think I’d be as willing to stay behind an-”  
“Gideon...I’ve been under your command for almost almost ten years now and trust me when I say this, you are not a bad leader! Unlike Kelly, you know when to give up, rest, retreat, and take care of soldiers who’ve fallen. I’ve never seen Kelly carry anyone on his shoulders; he always walks away unharmed and without a burden. You’ve carried so many people to safety, myself included! Remember Atlas? After we stopped the launch I couldn’t stand and was going in and out of consciousness...you didn’t leave me there to die or get captured. You’re ten times the man Kelly is and that bastard doesn’t deserve you under his command.”

When Mitchell finished his words of encouragement, Gideon could only pull Mitchell closer to him. Although he wouldn’t be able to convince himself that he was a good Captain or person, those words made him feel loved, a feeling he hasn’t felt in a long while.   
“Thanks mate.” Mitchell simply leaned into his pull and placed his head on Gideon’s shoulder. After giving Gideon a few more moments to take in his words, Mitchell began to speak.  
“So when are we getting out of here?”  
Gideon sobered up almost instantly. “I tried contacting them while you were asleep and they won’t be able to pick us up for a while because of the blizzards and snow.”  
Taking a deep breath, Mitchell nodded. “Okay...we’ll manage somehow. We just need to ration our supplies and stay warm.” A brief pause. “Hey, at least it’s just you and me against the world, right? Just like old times…”  
Gideon smiled. “Oh yeah.”

The two men stayed sitting together against the igloo wall for a good amount of hours, both men talking and reminiscing on the old missions and adventures they got themselves into; once in a while Bandit and Sakari trotted over and laid down beside the pair to keep them warm and entertained. A lot of time must’ve passed because the next time Gideon looked at Mitchell, he saw the Private’s head dipped down onto his chest and lolling limping from one side to the other. Gently, Gideon guided Mitchell’s head so that it was now leaning against his own chest, tucking the brown mop of hair underneath his chin. Gideon closed his eyes and welcomed sleep with open arms.

He may not be a good person, but at least he had a great partner and brother to make up for that, and who also keeps him balanced and strong.  

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm sorry if the chapter was kind of long :/ I just thought that this scene between Gideon and Mitchell was important and I didn't want to rush it.
> 
> I wanted to take this moment and say, "Thank you" for all of the support/kudos/bookmarks/hits/comments you all have left me! It really means a lot <3
> 
> Questions/Comments/Concerns/Insults/Thoughts of love? Please feel free to share them :D They encourage me and help improve my writing more and more!!
> 
> I'm not sure how long I want this story to go (not too long hopefully). Maybe one or two more chapters?? 
> 
> Take Care and Party Hard :0)


	7. Chapter 7

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Mitchell and Gideon spend the days healing and resting...until some guests arrive on Christmas

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey y'all :0)
> 
> Sorry about the slow updates: I have midterms due next week and my main focus is on them at the moment. But I found some time to update the story...I also want to write decent chapters rather than rush through them so that also increases the time gaps between updates :/
> 
> Warning: Gramatical/Spelling errors and possibly slight OOC-ness
> 
> I hope you enjoy!!!

**(December 25, 2065. 12:45 hours)  
** To say Gideon, Bandit, Sakari, and Mitchell were bored the last two days is an overstatement. Gideon and the huskies spent all Christmas Eve trying to keep Mitchell healthy; although Mitchell’s health improved since the conversation that took place one day earlier, he still had a high fever. Gideon, along with Bandit and Sakari, spent a majority of the day bringing Mitchell’s temperature back to normal. While Gideon would place slightly damp cloths on his forehead if it became too hot, the two huskies would snuggle next to him and try to warm him up if he began to feel too cold. Thankfully, Mitchell wasn’t sick enough to be delirious and barely conscious like the first time he woke up, so he was able to hear and follow the soldier’s gentle commands as well as bring some life into the igloo; after all, you can only talk to non-human lifeforms for so long before you feel yourself slowly going crazy. By the time Mitchell’s health was mostly back to normal, the weather outside had a brief phase where the wind wasn’t violent or vicious and the snowfall became gentler. Gideon used that time to not only take a leak, but also for the two huskies to have some fun in the snow. He watched them run around (to the best of their ability) in the thick and deep snow and then eventually joined in the fun, tossing snowballs in the air and watching them attempt to catch it. Mitchell, on the other hand, was still weak and could barely stand up without the world’s tilting violently. He spent the entire day lying on the cot, sleeping and resting. Despite not being back with Sentinel with all of his friends, Mitchell liked being alone with his former Captain and two huskies: it felt peaceful.

Today, however, things were going to change.  
Because Bandit and Sakari decided to claim the cot as their own, both Mitchell and Gideon were now asleep in the “bed” made from the two sleeping bags. Mitchell still wasn’t one hundred percent: he was still weak and small traces of the fever still remained in his body. Because of that, Gideon ordered Mitchell to get some rest, and eventually he himself drifted off.

Suddenly, Bandit lifted his head and sniffed the air for a little bit. A loud and dangerous growl left his mouth, waking up Gideon and Sakari. Gideon sat up, blinked away the remaining traces of sleep, and looked at Bandit with curiosity and concern.  
“Bandit,” he whispered, not wanting to wake up Mitchell, “what’s the matter?”  
Bandit continued to growl, his sharp and deadly teeth now visible, and jumped off of the cot, standing in a protective stance in front of the younger female pup. Gideon followed Bandit’s gaze and instantly figured out what was going on: something was out there. He quickly reached for his gun and got up so that he was standing in front of his sleeping friend. Mitchell, however, woke up when Gideon leaped from the sleeping bag and stared at the man who was standing protectively in front of him.  
“Gideon, wha-”  
“shhh” Gideon silenced him. Without saying a word, he nodded his head towards the entrance. Mitchell swiftly got up and grabbed the hunting knife lying a couple of inches away from him. He stood and positioned himself into a combat stance, unconsciously moving in front of Gideon. Snow began to spill onto the ground and natural sunlight began to seep into the otherwise dark igloo. Muffled grunting, cursing, and moaning could be heard from the other side of the entrance, making Gideon raise his gun higher. He looked at Mitchell, motioned him to stand against the wall in front of the entrance, and briefly pressed his index finger against his lips. Mitchell nodded, moved towards the entrance, and leaned as much as he could against the wall, his knife held firm in his hand.

Then entire entrance caved and a group of soldiers dressed in black (which greatly contrasted the white snow) charged into the igloo. Before they could open fire, Mitchell swerved around and stabbed one of the soldiers right in their neck, killing them instantly. Mitchell’s eyes widened when they landed on another soldier pointing their gun directly at Gideon and before his mind caught up with his actions, he grabbed the soldier by the jacket’s collar, dragged him onto the floor, and began to wrestle with them in order to pry the gun away from their hands. The action happened so fast that Gideon himself didn’t see what had happened and instead kept his focus on the entrance. He fired rounds at two other soldiers who were about to make their way into the igloo, killing them both instantly. Once Gideon was sure that they were both dead, he ran out into the snow, Bandit following him.

Meanwhile, Mitchell was trying to pry the gun out of the other soldier’s hard grip while keeping them pinned onto the ground. During the struggle, one of them would accidentally pull the trigger, sending bullets flying in multiple directions; at one point, a bullet almost hit Sakari. Thankfully, Mitchell managed to point the gun in another direction before the pup could get hurt. Mitchell was about to pull the gun out of the soldier’s hand, but then a hard object the slammed right in the back of his head, stunning him and weakening his grip on it. Before he could regain his composure, the gun slide out of his hands and whacked him right on the side of his forehead, causing him to fall onto the ground completely. A foot suddenly kicked him where his still bruised ribs were, making him grunt in pain. He grabbed the foot before it had the chance to retract and, with all of his force, twisted it until he heard a sickening snap. The soldier who kicked him instantly dropped to the ground and began to reach for his now broken ankle. Mitchell picked up the knife he dropped and leaped onto fallen soldier, kneeling right between their outstretched legs. Without hesitation, Mitchell raised the knife and brought it down on the soldier’s forehead, killing them instantly. Before he could remove the knife from their skull, Mitchell felt a hand in his hair and he was thrown onto his back. He saw the soldier he was previously wrestling check the gun, toss it aside, crawl over to him, straddle him, and raise both of his hands in the air. Before Mitchell could comprehend, the hands wrapped around his throat with unbelievable strength. Mitchell’s own hands wrapped around the soldier’s wrists and tried to remove the painful grip off of his neck. He felt his head and shoulders rise from the ground and, without a warning, the back his head was slammed viciously against the ground. Stars flew across Mitchell’s vision and his grip on the enemies’ wrist weakened, prompting the soldier to put even more weight onto Mitchell’s neck. Mitchell began to choke and could see the edges of his vision darken; no matter how much of a fight he tried to put up, the soldier straddling and choking him had the upper hand. He could hear gunshots outside, as well as loud barking and squishy sounds, but even that began to sound muffled. He made one last effort to try to force the soldier off of him but his head was once again raised and painfully slammed against the icy ground, the sickening crack heard loud and clear despite the rest of the muffled sounds outside. Mitchell could feel blood beginning to slowly make its way down the back of his neck. Mitchell’s eyes began to roll around and his vision darkened dramatically.

Before he lost consciousness, he saw Bandit, his entire mouth dripping with blood, and Gideon standing at the entrance, anger in both of their eyes.

 **(December 25, 2065. 16:30 hours)  
** When Mitchell regained his senses, he felt three things: the fire that made its way into his throat, the nail digging deep into his skull, and a hand resting on his shoulder, along with something rubbing gentle circles on his bicep. Mitchell slowly peeled his eyes open and he was immediately greeted by a slightly out of focus Gideon, who had expressions of worry and relief plastered on his face.

“Hey there,” he gently said, his voice echoing in Mitchell’s mind, “welcome back mate.”  
Mitchell weakly smiled at Gideon and began to investigate.  
“Wh-” the burning sensation in his throat prevented him from finishing the sentence and he began to cough. No matter how hard he tried, the coughing never ceased and he thought that he was going to cough his lungs out. Suddenly, a small flask was pressed against his lips. Instinctively, he swallowed whatever contents were in the flask and he was grateful that cold water went into his mouth and traveled down his throat, soothing his sore throat. After a few more gulps, the flask was removed and he tried to speak again.  
“Are you okay?” Even though his voice was raspy and sounded like it hasn’t been used in days, the concern and worry was heard loud and clear. Mitchell saw Gideon’s eyebrows raise with surprise.  
“The man who got whacked in the forehead with a gun, nearly got the back his skull cracked, and who got choked out is asking me if I’m okay?”  
Mitchell’s eyes left no room for jokes, sarcasm, or lies. Before he could scold Gideon, the Captain raised his hand to silence the injured man.  
“I’m okay.” Mitchell didn’t look convinced, so Gideon pressed on. “Really! Thankfully there were only five of them outside; I quickly took care of four of them while Bandit finished off the last one.”  
The image of Bandit standing in the entrance with his mouth soaked in flesh blood flashed in front of Mitchell. Sighing, he gently swallowed and stared at the older soldier. It took Mitchell just now to realize that the thing rubbing circles on his bicep was Gideon’s thumb and he couldn't lie, it felt nice and comforting...he hoped it wouldn’t stop for a while. With Gideon's help, he began to push himself upwards and into a sitting position.  When Mitchell sat up his head began to throb and his vision went hazy, making him reach up his hand and feel where the source of the pain was coming from. As soon as his hands made contact with a huge lump on the back of his head, as well as dry flecks of blood, he quickly lowered his hand down back to his side and looked at Gideon. Once the throbbing passed, Mitchell tried to ask his question again.

“What the hell happened?”  
“Those were the soldiers that attacked us earlier at the missile site,” Gideon explained, “After Bandit and I finished off the soldiers outside, we came back in and saw you being strangled. Bandit ripped their throat out and by the time I got to you, you were unconscious. While you were out I cleared out the dead bodies, cleaned the blood just in case anyone decides to track us again, sealed the entrance, and patched you up.”  
Before Mitchell could thank Gideon, there was a staticky sound that came from one of the duffles.  
“Sentinel Two-One, do you copy?”

Gideon ran back to the bag and grabbed the communicator.  
“Sentinel Two-One, loud and clear.”  
“We’ve found a time when we could pick you both up. We tracked your position and concluded that we can pick you both up tomorrow at the latest.”  
“Thank fucking God” Gideon breathed out, glancing at Mitchell.  
“How’s Private Mitchell holding up?”  
“Not great. We were ambushed a couple of hours ago and Mitchell didn’t come out unscathed.”  
“I’m right here you know” Mitchell said with frustration and annoyance. Ignoring Mitchell’s comment, Gideon continued.  
“Do you think we could bring along two friends? They both have been with us for a while and I don’t think we can abandon them now…” Gideon smiled at two huskies. While Bandit walked over to Gideon and nuzzled his head against the Captain’s hip, Sakari trotted over to Mitchell, who decided to lay back down, and began to lick the head wound created when the gun whacked him during the wrestling match.  
“Once we arrive to your destination, we can discuss adding recruitments. Will you both be okay until we get there tomorrow?”  
Gideon looked down at Bandit and then at Mitchell and Sakari, who were both drifting off to sleep.  
“Absolutely. We’ll see you tomorrow. Gideon out.”

He hung up the communicator and made his way back to Mitchell, Bandit right on his heels. Gideon knelt down besides Mitchell and began to coax him into sleep. Thankfully, Mitchell didn’t have a concussion so he was allowed to get some healing sleep.  
“Looks like we've got a little while until help arrives. You should get some rest…”  
“But I’ve been resting for the past three days” Mitchell whined, his voice filled with exhaustion and sleep.  
“Being unconscious doesn’t count as rest. Come on Mitchell, it's Christmas...just humor me.”  
“You need my h-”  
“Mate, there’s not much I’ll be doing that requires assistance.” Mitchell wasn’t giving in to sleep, so Gideon came up with another idea. “Look...if I get some rest now, will you as well?” Considering this idea, Mitchell nodded. “Okay.”

Gideon took off his jacket and crawled underneath the covers next to Mitchell. He positioned his body so that it was facing Mitchell, who was currently laying on his side that was facing him. Bandit leaped onto the cot and curled up into a ball, Sakari following him. After a few moments, the two huskies were curled around each other and began to drift off. Gideon could see Mitchell trying to fight off sleep, so he decided to pull out the best card he’s got. He lifted his hand and slowly carded it through the brown and fluffy hair, pushing the man’s bangs away from his face and tucking them behind his ear. His hand would alternate between carding its way through Mitchell’s hair and gently stroking the man’s cheek: both actions eventually earned him a sigh from his friend. He could see Mitchell’s eyes beginning to close on their own accordance, so he continued the actions while adding soothing words.  
“I’ve got you mate… nothing will happen to you or me while I’m around. Close your eyes.... I’ll be right here…”  
Finally, Mitchell’s eyes shut completely and after a few moment, his body went completely limp. Smiling, Gideon pushed his own forehead closer so that it was now nuzzled against his friend’s. He closed his eyes and let his thoughts lull him to sleep.

'Nothing will ever happen to you again. Even if Kelly kicks me off Sentinel, I'll make sure you and I won’t always get the short end of the stick! I’ll keep you safe...I promise.’

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> One more chapter and then this story will be finished :0) Thanks for sticking with the story and I hope you all enjoyed it!
> 
> I've received some requests for one-shots and decided to create a new "story" that basically are prompts/ideas readers want to see written out. If writers and guests have any wishes/ideas, feel free to write them down! I'd give you most of the credit :D I'm not good with SLASH (mostly sex/graphic scenes), so this is just a warning in case one of you want to see Gideon having sex with Mitchell...I'm just not good at it. Hurt/Comfort, AU, Friendship, Romance (fluff), _____xreader...I'll be happy to cover as much as you want :0) This is optional BTW: I don't want it to seem like I'm FORCING you to submit something :)
> 
> Questions/Comments/Concerns/Insults/Thoughts of love?? Feel free to write those down as well :D
> 
> Take Care and Party Hard :0)


	8. Chapter 8

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Mitchell and Gideon confront Kelly, the fates of Bandit and Sakari are revealed, and the two men have a conversation that is long overdue.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey y'all :0)
> 
> Here is the last chapter for "White Out!" Thank you for being patient with me in terms of updates. Your kindness and love motivated me to finish the story earlier than planned. 
> 
> Warning: Gramatical/Spelling errors and possibly slight OOC-ness
> 
> I hope you enjoy!!!!

**(December 26, 2065. 10:00 hours)**  
Mitchell slowly woke up to blinding fluorescent lights shining directly into his eyes, causing his head to throb even more than it previously was. After giving his eyes a few moments to recover, Mitchell slowly opened them again and was happy that they adjusted to the overwhelming light. He weakly turned his head to the right and saw a needle sticking in his vein, probably leading to an IV drip. He realized that he was not only lying on a bed but also that he was in a hospital room...alone.  
‘Gideon’ Mitchell frantically thought.  
Without missing a beat, he threw off the sorry excuse for a blanket, swung his legs over the bed, and stood on shaky legs in order to find his friend. He slowly began to walk towards the open door when he felt a painful tug on his right arm.  
‘Right,’ he said, mentally slapping himself, ‘the IV.’  
He quickly ripped out the IV, ignoring the sting and tiny drops of blood that slide down his arm because of his action, and made his way towards the door.

Throughout his entire journey through the hospital corridor, he was surprised that he didn’t run into any nurses or doctors who would’ve probably forced him to go back to his room. He was also surprised by how violently his head continued to throb: it worried him that the multiple blows he took to the head in the waterfall and igloo confrontation left more damage than he originally planned. At times, his head began to throb so painfully that he would have to use the wall to support himself and help him move forward. Despite the injuries, he wasn’t going to stop looking for his friend. After a couple of minutes, his slow journey was rewarded: after turning a corner he saw Gideon, who had his back turned, and the two huskies he found sitting patiently next to him. Mitchell noticed that Gideon was actually talking to someone and his voice sounded extremely frustrated and angry.  
‘Kelly’ Mitchell realized.

With new strength and determination, Mitchell pushed himself away from the wall and marched over to the two men arguing. He was about to open his mouth when he felt a furry object nuzzling itself against his legs. He looked down and saw Sakari bouncing up and down on her hind legs, her tail wagging with excitement and happiness while her tongue was hanging from her mouth. Mitchell smiled and kneeled down in order to pet her better and was automatically greeted with saliva making its way across his forehead.  
“Hey girl,” he quietly said while stroking her beautiful coat, “it’s great to see you.”  
He took his eyes off of the younger pup and saw Bandit trotting over towards him as well. He sat in front of Mitchell and sniffed him for a bit, as if he were trying to clarify a thought in his head, before leaning forward and licking Mitchell’s cheek. Mitchell used his free hand that wasn’t petting Sakari and ran it through Bandit’s amazing grey coat.  
“I heard you saved my life back in the igloo.” While he recalled being strangled by the soldier in the igloo, he noticed Bandit’s tail begin to wag with happiness and comfort. “Thank you…. for both keeping myself and Gideon warm, entertained, and safe. I couldn’t have been more lucky to have met someone as loyal as you.”  
Bandit finished his licking and nuzzled his head against Mitchell’s, sighing with relief. Deciding that he should get to Gideon, he gently pushed Bandit and Sakari away from him and headed over to Gideon, whose eyes were now trained on him. Once he made eye contact with Mitchell, he warmed up and felt a wave of relief: his reaction must’ve been made clear because Mitchell shot him a comforting smile as well. Mitchell walked over to his friend and stood firmly in front of Kelly. They needed to have a talk.

“Private Mitchell,” Kelly said, “I see you’re alive and walking.”  
“No thanks to you” Mitchell shot back bitterly.  
“We had no ch-”  
“As soon as Schultz and I fell you decided to search for more soldiers rather than try to find us. I was told that there weren’t any more, so you wasted time that could’ve been used to save Schultz. Then when you made everybody head back, you decided it would be best to just leave us to die?”  
“I was thinking about the soldier’s lives” Kelly said, his voice now low and dangerous.  
“You clearly weren’t when you thought leaving the two of us to die was the best for everyone.”  
“You are in NO position to challenge my au-”  
“Schultz is dead because of you!!!!” The grief, frustration, and anger behind his words were perfectly heard. From the corner of his eye, he could see Gideon’s eyes on him, silently providing the man with comfort. Mitchell continued:  
“Every decision you’ve made in the past has gotten at least one person under your command hurt, ill, or worse. Remember in Iraq when you thought it would be smart to keep us moving for nine straight days? Remember when Gideon, as well as two other soldiers, collapsed from exhaustion? The missile strike could’ve waited: they weren’t going to launch any time soon, so why did you make us go out there? Because of you, Parker and Schultz are dead.”  
The other two men were silent after Mitchell’s outburst, both of them lost in their own (and quite different) opinions. While Kelly looked like he was containing anger, Gideon kept thinking about how little Mitchell mentioned how his own life was put at risk. The bloody sod was hypothermic, then had a dangerous fever, and THEN nearly got killed by enemy troops...all because of Kelly. Pushing that thought aside, he continued to stare at the two soldiers.  
“Do you think you or him,” Kelly began, pointing at Gideon, “could’ve done better.”  
“Damn right I do” Mitchell shot back, his voice filled with confidence. “I’ve worked with Gideon for almost ten years now and believe me when I say that he would’ve done things a lot differently without putting ANY of his troops at risk.”  
“You think the Captain who abandoned his fellow soldiers,” Kelly asked with a hint of mockery, “would’ve led this mission better?”  
“He stayed behind in order to find us. He didn’t leave you, you left him! That’s the main difference between you and him: unlike you, takes care of people and doesn’t leave anyone behind. He does whatever it takes to find his fellow soldiers, even if they’re K.I.A. That to me, as well as other soldiers, is what makes a great leader AND person and I couldn’t be more honest when I say that he would’ve done this the RIGHT way.” 

Mitchell couldn’t see it, but Gideon was staring at him with gratitude, warmth, and slight shock. Mitchell, on the other hand, meant every word that spilled out of his mouth. He’s always believed that real soldiers never leave their fellow squad members behind and would do anything to protect their brother-in-arms. Gideon and Cormack were the only two commanders he’s been placed under that actually stuck with that idea and that was enough for Mitchell. Even if it wasn’t his own life at risk, he was sure Gideon would’ve wanted to keep looking for his fallen comrades...and Mitchell would’ve been by his side every step of the way.   
He was broken out of his thoughts when a fist came out of nowhere and hit him right where the gun hit him in the igloo, causing him to lose balance and sent him right to the ground. As soon as he fell, he could make out the blurry figure of Bandit leap right in front of him and stand in an attack posture, a loud growl escaping his mouth. He could also see Gideon push Kelly with excessive force away from him, forcing the commander to get back. Mitchell tried to clear his vision but found that getting hit in the exact spot where he got hit with the gun was preventing him from doing so. He didn’t realize that he fell backwards and just realized that he was now lying completely on his back, facing the white ceiling. From the corner of his eye, he could see Sakari run towards him and begin to lick his head in an attempt to comfort him. He smiled at the scene in front of him and felt his eyes close on their own accordance.

The Private never got to see Kelly get kicked out of the hospital, Bandit gently nudge the side of his head, or Gideon run to his side with worry and anger plastered on his face.

 **(December 26, 2065. 14:00 hours)**  
Mitchell couldn’t suppress the small groan that escaped his mouth as he came to. His head hurt like hell, but it didn’t have the same intensity as before, when he woke up the first time. Re-enacting his actions earlier, he turned his head to the right and was surprised to see no IV attached to his flesh arm. He was also briefly shocked at the sight of Gideon sitting sloppily in a hospital chair, his eyes staring at the ceiling with boredom. Smirking, Mitchell cleared his throat and spoke.  
“Anything interesting up there Captain?”  
Gideon automatically straightened up and positioned the chair so that he could now completely face Mitchell.  
“No,” he replied nonchalantly, “I just needed something else to stare at besides your fuck ugly face.”  
“Lovely” Mitchell replied, sarcasm and un-amusement laced in his voice. After a moment of silence, Gideon spoke up.  
“How are you feeling?”  
“Considering that I got sucker-punched in the exact same spot where I got smacked by the butt of a gun...better than I thought.”  
“Yeah. As soon as I brought you back to your room, doctors looked over you and told me that if the hit was any harder, you might’ve had a serious concussion. Thankfully, Kelly didn’t hit you hard enough so you should be able to leave here in the next couple of minutes. The doctors just have to check on you before you leave.”  
Mitchell nodded at the news and smiled: he was finally going home. He glanced around the room and didn’t see Bandit or Sakari, which worried him for a second.  
“Where’s Bandit a-”  
“Ilona took them back to Sentinel HQ. While she wasn’t amused at the fact that we brought back two huskies with us, she felt better at the idea when I told her how Bandit basically saved both of our lives in the igloo ambush and protected you when Kelly hit you. She thinks they could be trained to become service dogs for soldiers who come back from the field and need time to recuperate. They won’t be shot at, so that’s a start.”  
“Well, at least we’ll be able to see them from time to time.” After a pause, Mitchell asked, “How did we get here anyway? Last thing I remember before I woke up here was falling asleep in the igloo.”  
“Sentinel came earlier than expected and managed to airlift everyone to safety before another storm came. I woke up right when they arrived and didn’t want to wake up you, so I asked them to drug you so that you would remain asleep. And before you get your arse all wound up, you were still recovering from your waterslide adventure, illness, and attack in the igloo, so the medics agreed with my decision.”  
“How long was I out?”  
‘Long enough to worry me’ Gideon silently replied. He outwardly told him, “Not that long. Considering the hell you were put through, it’s understandable that you were out of it for a while.”  
“Have you been here all of this time?”  
“No. Once we got here I went back to my bunk with Bandit and Sakari and slept for a while. Then I reported the incident to Kingpin and kept an eye on the two dogs in the meantime. We were out for a small walk when I decided to check on you.”  
“They let two young huskies into a hospital? Just like that?”  
“No….but the nurses swooned over them, as well as yours truly,” Gideon replied as he pointed to himself, “so they let us all in.”  
Mitchell rolled his eyes at the comment. “What were you and Kelly talking about before I found you?”  
“He scolded me for leaving the team and not checking in with him about your condition. I personally didn’t think he gave a shit, but he claimed he did so…” After a long pause, Gideon looked at Mitchell with sincerity and warmth. “Thank you,” he said, “for having my back down there. I’m pretty sure if you didn’t intervene, he would've murdered me on the spot.”  
“Gideon, you don’t have to thank me. You’ve saved my ass countless times and I don’t think I’ve ever gotten the chance to say how much that means to me. Almost every soldier at Sentinel HQ admires you because you care about their well-being, even during the most difficult situations. They just never got around to say how much they appreciate your leadership. We’re all more than happy to lift your spirits up and we don’t expect anything in return. You’ve done so much for us all that it’s time that we help you unconditionally.”  
Gideon smiled and placed his hand on Mitchell’s arm, gently squeezing it.

“Thanks mate,” he quietly said, “that honestly means a lot.” It was Gideon’s turn to ask Mitchell a question. “When you were confronting Kelly, why didn’t you bring up the fact that you nearly died? I mean, it’s a huge piece to the puzzle an-”  
“I just didn’t think it mattered.”  
“You didn’t think your own near-death experience mattered?! You do realize that if your head wasn’t already scrambled from multiple blows that I would punch you right now, right?”  
“I lost Schultz,” Mitchell replied sadly, “I tried to carry him to safety but he slipped through my fingers...I guess that I deserve everything that I went through.”  
Sighing, Gideon gently grabbed Mitchell’s chin and forced him to look directly in his eyes.  
“Mitchell, I’m only going to say this once so you better listen up. Schultz’s death isn’t on you and NO ONE should ever have to go through what you went through. When we searched for you during that brief time period, I saw a huge puddle of blood near the end of the waterfall and because you didn’t seem to have any serious physical injuries when I found you outside the igloo, I’ll assume it was Schultz’s blood. He lost too much and just recovered from being swept away by a waterfall...his body couldn’t take anymore stress. You tried your best but his condition prevented you from being successful.”  
Mitchell sniffed and looked at Gideon with watery-eyes. “What am I suppose to tell his family?” His voice was filled with anguish and heartbreak. Gideon squeezed the hand that remained on Mitchell’s arm and leaned forward.  
“The truth” Gideon simply replied. “Tell his family about Kelly’s screw ups and the mission that went wrong. Tell them about how you sacrificed yourself to not only to save your Captain, but to also keep Schultz safe and warm. Tell them about your attempt to carry Schultz, your fellow soldier and friend, to safety. I think his family will be more focused on your heroic acts rather than Schultz succumbing to his injuries and environment. And when you tell them everything I told you, know that I’ll be there for you in case things go wrong. Copy?”  
Mitchell nodded and sadly smiled at Gideon. Gideon smiled back at Private and looked at the clock above the door.

“You seem better,” Gideon stated, “do you wanna head back? I have to check on Bandit and Sakari, as well as the celebrate Christmas that we missed, and could use a friend by my side….that is if you’re up to it.”  
Mitchell nodded frantically. Gideon smiled and stood up.  
“Great. I just need to find your doctor and convince him that you can leave now without a checkup. Your now clean and warm clothes are in the closet to your left, think you can manage?”  
“Yeah.”  
“Good. I’ll be back in a bit.”  
Before Gideon could leave the room, he couldn’t help but ask his friend a simple question.

“You’re going to stay...with me, right?” He’s nearly lost Mitchell too many times and each experience left him with the dread of not having Mitchell --his companion, supporter, friend, and brother-- by his side anymore. He needed to hear some kind of confirmation that would assuage his fears for a while. If that made him selfish, then so be it. He couldn't lose the loyal, caring, strong, and loving man he's come to think of as his brother.  
Mitchell gave Gideon a warm and comforting smile. “Until you want me to leave.”  
Gideon nodded his head and shot him a happy and warm smile.  
“Are you going to stay with me?” Mitchell’s question briefly took Gideon by surprise, but he quickly responded with the one answer he had: the one answer that would never change.

“Always.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you to everyone who left comments/kudos/love and who visited this story! It means SO much that you all have taken the time out of your lives to read the story. As I said, this is possibly the last original story I had in mind (in terms of Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare) but my brain constantly goes back to these two men (and their actors), so the possibility for another original story is high!!  
> But for now, I'm taking requests/prompts that you, the readers of all kinds, want to see on paper. If you're a guest and want to see something published, please write down a unique name (eg. Guest 1/2/3, Fluffernuggets, Imonaboat) so I can give you individual credit for coming up with the stories. As I've written before, I'm not that great at hardcore slash (erotica/porn with our plot, etc.) but besides that, I'm open to any type of story (AU, fluff/romance, OC/reader, hurt/comfort (my personal favorite), friendship, etc.) so feel free to write down your ideas! You'll get most of the credit :D
> 
> Questions/Comments/Concerns/Insults/Thoughts of love?? Feel free to also post them as well :)
> 
> Take Care and Party Hard :0)  
> -RogersBz14


End file.
